Press Release – All traffic on US 84/183 between Early and Zephyr in Brown County is scheduled to be detoured for a 4-hour period on Thursday, June 29 as crews close the highway to demolish the old railroad bridge at the Fort Worth & Western Railroad.

For the 4-hour period between approximately 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., all traffic will be detoured between the communities of Zephyr and Blanket.

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Travelers heading out of Brownwood/Early towards Zephyr/Goldthwaite will be detoured to US 67/377 to Blanket, then south on FM 1467 to Zephyr.

Travelers heading towards Brownwood/Early from Zephyr/Goldthwaite will be detoured to FM 1467 to Blanket, then into Early on US 67/377.

As the length of the detour is approximately 20 miles, travelers should allow substantially more time to reach their destinations.

Once the highway is reopened to traffic at approximately 1 p.m., traffic delays at the bridge site could be expected until mid-late Thursday afternoon while crews complete the bridge removal.

Following the bridge removal, contractors will begin construction of a new, wider bridge. A temporary bridge has been constructed to allow continued railroad operations during the construction period.

The new bridge will allow US 84/183 to be widened to four 12-foot travel lanes as the highway passes under the railroad. Currently, the highway is a four-lane facility on either side of the existing bridge, but the highway must narrow to only two lanes as it passes under the bridge. Construction of the $12.4 million project is expected to be completed in spring 2018.

TxDOT’s Brownwood District includes Brown, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Lampasas, McCulloch, Mills, San Saba and Stephens counties.

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