The Highway 83 Work Runs to 2029. Tuscola's Hardest Stretch Is Happening This Fall.

"It's tough for a small business, but I think the end result will be worth it. It's just growing pains."

Quentin Clendenen said that to KTXS in a story published October 7, 2026. He owns Q's Tire & Oil at 4465 US-83, and his family runs Q's Artisan Pizza at the same address. He told the station that on a typical day the two businesses take in about $5,000 combined. During the culvert and road-base work, that had fallen to about $1,000 or less, which he put at roughly an 80 to 85 percent drop.

The headline date for TxDOT's project is October 2029. The work cutting into Tuscola businesses this fall sits near the front of that schedule, and some of it may wrap up within weeks. The overpasses and ramp that will change the drive into Abilene aren't scheduled to open to traffic until mid-September 2029.

What is happening outside 4465 US-83 right now

According to KTXS, crews on Highway 83 in Tuscola have been working on a culvert, removing pavement and preparing to widen the highway to five lanes. Clendenen said the impact had grown over the three weeks before the story ran, as the work picked up. Barricades, dirt work and equipment have sometimes made it hard for customers to get in. On the Tuesday before the story aired, customers couldn't reach either business at all while crews built up the road base.

He also described how TxDOT has handled it. The representative overseeing the project gave him a direct phone number and kept him updated on the schedule. When access was blocked, Clendenen called and was told the closure would probably last one day. The representative also offered to pause work if the businesses got especially busy. "They've been really kind," Clendenen told KTXS.

The timing detail matters most. Clendenen said he was told the roadway could be paved in about six weeks. Counting from the October 7 story, that lands around late November if the estimate holds. He said both businesses were open and operating as usual.

Two businesses that filled gaps in town

Q's Artisan Pizza opened in November 2021. When KTAB's Bite of West Texas profiled it in November 2025, it was the only pizza shop in town. The oven is a brick oven shipped from Italy. The menu covers pizzas, calzones and cheesy bread made with fresh ingredients, and the shop is carry-out only. The same profile says Quentin opened the tire shop next door to cover another local service the town lacked.

In the October KTXS story, Clendenen said the pizza shop had been open about five years and Q's Tire & Oil about one. According to Q's Tire & Oil's website, the shop handles tire sales and repair, balancing, rotation, sensor diagnostics, oil changes, routine maintenance, diagnostics and auto repair. So a family in Tuscola can get a tire patched and pick up dinner at the same address without driving north through the Y.

Q's Artisan Pizza, 4465 US-83, Tuscola. The shop's website lists hours as Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. KTAB pointed readers to the shop's Facebook page for current hours, which is the safest check while work is changing access day to day. Q's Tire & Oil shares the address. Its site doesn't list hours.

Why the work reaches this far into town

Most people call this "the Y project," but TxDOT's plan covers more than the intersection. According to the TxDOT project page, the US 83 section originally ran from the Y to Brown Avenue in Tuscola. The updated limits run from near the Y to near County Road 160, north of the Tuscola city limits. That stretch will get two lanes in each direction, a center left-turn lane and better drainage. The section south of Tuscola is still being defined.

TxDOT's own list of reasons for the project reads like a description of Tuscola's weekday traffic. It names safety, rapid residential growth nearby, the Jim Ned CISD school bus route, traffic movement on US 83/84, business access points near the intersection, and drainage along US 83. The work KTXS described near the Q's businesses, a culvert plus preparation for five lanes, falls inside that US 83 widening stretch.

TxDOT held open houses in April and November 2019. The public overwhelmingly chose the current layout, called Exhibit E, during a project update in May and June 2021, and a third public meeting followed on October 14, 2021. Construction began April 6, 2026. The contract listing names James Construction Group, LLC as the contractor.

The Y's schedule, phase by phase

At an open house on August 11, 2026, TxDOT gave Tuscola residents an update on the construction phase, upcoming traffic-pattern changes and the end goal. The presentation from that meeting lays out each traffic-control switch. Here it is in order:

The current step, which started August 17, is the one that put both an all-way stop at the Y and US 83 widening on the schedule at the same time. Foundation work for the overpass and the Direct Connect bridge started with that same step. The bridges themselves aren't scheduled to open to traffic until mid-September 2029. So the day-to-day disruption in Tuscola comes early in the schedule, and the payoff for commuters comes late.

What the finished road changes about the drive north

Under Exhibit E, US 84 gets an overpass for both northbound and southbound lanes, plus U-turns at the Y. A direct-connect ramp will carry northbound US 83 traffic onto northbound US 83/84 toward Abilene. TxDOT says the design improves safety at the Y and moves traffic more easily from Tuscola to Abilene.

In June, TxDOT Abilene Public Information Officer Alaisha Montanez described the end goal to KTAB/KRBC. "Traffic will no longer have the option to not stop because it will be a straight-through route for both northbound and southbound traffic," she said. In the same story, TxDOT asked drivers to slow down, stay alert and expect occasional delays. That story ran before the all-way stop went in, and none of the coverage published since then has measured delay times at the Y. Nobody has published how many minutes the stop adds to a morning drive into Abilene.

Keeping up with it week to week

Since access along US 83 can change from one day to the next, these are the most useful places to check:

• TxDOT's Y-Intersection project page has the design exhibit, the project limits and links to past public meetings.
• TxDOT's August 2026 open house page has the latest construction-phase update and Abilene District contact details.
• TxDOT Project Tracker can be searched by highway or district, is updated weekly and links to DriveTexas for current road conditions.

Other stops along the corridor include Bowie's Convenience Store at the Alon station at 3049 US 83, where the operator lists 24-hour pumps and store hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Big Guy Storage is at 3618 US Highway 83. Clendenen told KTXS he expects customers to come back once construction wraps up. If the paving estimate holds, the barricades in front of 4465 US-83 could clear long before the first bridge opens.

At Tiny or Grand Realty Group, we follow projects like the US 83 widening because they shape everyday life along the corridor. If you own a home or acreage near Highway 83 and want to know where it stands while the road changes around it, request an instant home valuation and we'll go over the numbers with you.