Kirby reconstruction goes on ... and on

In case you've managed to miss it, Kirby Drive south of the Southwest Freeway has been sort of a mess for a while — almost three years, in fact. The street has been torn up so crews can install a massive new storm sewer; in the process, super-bumpy stretches of street will get fresh new pavement. So what's not to like? How about this: Because of a measurement error, some of the fourth phase of the project may take two years more to complete than was originally thought.

KTRK reports that the contractor who did the street survey for the section of Kirby between Bissonnet and the Southwest Freeway mismeasured, which means the city will need to take 15 feet of property along the east side of the street. "It makes me feel very nervous because it will be highly detrimental to my business," Carisma Wash owner Ron Pickett told Channel 13. (That's something of an understatement, it seems. City Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck said the city might have to take land not only from the car wash, but also from Goode Company BBQ and Helfman River Oaks Chrysler Jeep.) Construction is already under way on the section of Kirby south of Bissonnet, and that work will go on as planned.

KTRK's Miya Shay said she called Brown & Gay Engineers, the company that's doing the design work on the Kirby project, to find out how they missed the 15 feet; the firm said records showed the city owned all the land it needed, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Oops!