Section 7: Best Practices for Holiday Periods
There should not be any planned lane closures during the holiday travel period, except in unique situations with the District’s prior approval. As related to closures, the term “holiday” includes:
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- periods of increased travel on the state highway system, including major state and federal holidays and school holidays, and Anchor: #SGBEIHMG
- other periods of high commercial activity in the state, including limited periods in which certain items are exempted from the sales tax (“sales tax holidays”).
These dates will be included in the contract in accordance with Texas Transportation Code §224.034 and as otherwise directed. Items listed in this section may not apply to every project. Engineering judgement and experience will be required to provide the appropriate applications based on project location.
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Communicate the dates that the Department will NOT be allowing lane closures, to allow the Contractor to plan work appropriately.
Obtain Contractor call-out contact information for the holiday period. (Ask if the Contractor will be patrolling the work zone corridor during the holiday period.)
Identify District personnel on call for incident response and other crew members available for call out during the holiday period.
Determine the appropriate contact information to provide to maintenance supervisors for construction projects or incidents during the holiday period.
Assign and schedule crews for final drive-through of major projects and corridors for issues that need to be addressed prior to the holiday period.
Check construction detours for pavements in need of repair.
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Check roadways (particularly work zones) for debris, including shredded tires.
Verify that work zone signage and pavement markings are in place and clean. Any signage, markings, barricades, and drums that are damaged or no longer reflective should be removed and replaced, if needed.
Drive through detours for inspection of pavements, barriers, attenuators, and traffic control devices.
Ensure Contractor prepare equipment for incident response and have staged and fueled in appropriate yard.
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Notify the Communications Division and appropriate administration if any emergency closures will take place during the holiday period.
Park equipment in a safe, secure location and, where feasible, take into reasonable account the potential of errant vehicles that may leave the travel way.