Construction Updates Business Operations & Facilities

Beginning Monday, March 25, a portion of the walkway between Building 6 Research (formerly Children’s Hospital) and the Moody Medical Library will be closed to install a new underground fire line into the library. A fenced construction area will be erected, and pedestrians will be directed around it (see map). NOTE: Anyone using the employee drop off circle at 9th St. and Market St. could encounter a temporary walking detour during this time. Construction is expected to be completed within two weeks.   

Six blocks of Market Street are scheduled to close to westbound traffic beginning Monday, March 11, for installation of underground utilities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. The closure is expected to last about 14 months.

The traffic restrictions will be in effect between Sixth and 12th streets (see map). Eastbound traffic lanes and access to driveways along the street—including those leading to John Sealy Hospital and the Ninth Street traffic circle—will not be affected. However, large trucks will be using the eastbound lanes of Market Street periodically to haul away debris from the excavation sites. Drivers are encouraged to use alternative routes to reach numbered cross streets that lead into campus. Signs will soon be posted at Island Transit stops along the affected section of Market Street, informing riders of new stops during the construction.

The Market Street closure will allow crews to install underground high-temperature water lines. The water lines are part of a phased project to replace the less-efficient underground steam pipes, which supply heating systems in buildings. Flooding from Hurricane Ike in 2008 damaged the pipes. The new system is designed to be more resilient and to preserve mission-critical education, research and patient care operations on the Galveston campus in the event of a major disruption to city utilities.

Excavators will use directional boring equipment to minimize the need for trenches. The bore digs in a horizontal direction under the ground’s surface. The project is scheduled for completion in May 2014. 

A $90 million expansion project at UTMB Health’s Specialty Care Center at Victory Lakes in League City will add an emergency department and beds to accommodate patients requiring overnight stays. 

Site work begins the week of Feb. 25, and will require the temporary redirection of traffic in the area. However, throughout the project, access to the primary patient parking lot (at front of facility) will be available from the I-45 northbound feeder road.

During the first phase of construction, one of two access roads to the Specialty Care Center from Walker Street will be closed to traffic. Beginning around March 4, patients, visitors, and staff traveling on Walker Street will need to use the Victory Lakes Park and Ride road to access the patient and employee parking lots (see map).

As access and detours at the site change in the coming months, updates will be provided. For additional information about this project, visit http://www.utmbhealth.com/wtn/Page.asp?PageID=WTN000815.