OAT022321_powerline_replacement_04

Southeast Power Corporation’s journeyman lineman Saul Ortiz and Joel Palafox uses hot sticks to suspend live line wire with a crane Wednesday next to Ratliff Ranch Golf Links and Loop 338. The power lines needed to be updated and raised for a new overpass that will take East Loop 338 over East Yukon Road according to a press release from the Texas Department of Transportation Jan. 26. The first phase of the TxDOT project will build ramps that will take traffic off the loop and tie in to Yukon Road at the new intersections. This phase will take several months to complete. Work will focus on building overpass embankments and the overpass itself after the new intersections are completed. That is more than a year away. The speed limit will be reportedly reduced to 65 mph on Loop 338 through the construction zone. A heavy law enforcement presence may be in use at times to improve safety.