Drivers on Interstate 45 will wait longer for better connections to Loop 610 and U.S. 59 because a Woodlands-based contractor will have to be replaced.

The jobs, totaling about $102 million, were won by Tradeco Infraestructura, based in The Woodlands. The contractor is the American wing of the Mexican building giant Grupo Tradeco.

More than a year ago, the Texas Department of Transportation chose the company for three key jobs meant to relieve area congestion. The projects included two new ramps where I-45 crosses Loop 610 near Gulfgate Mall - from eastbound Loop 610 to I-45 northbound and from southbound I-45 to westbound Loop 610.

Tradeco also was the low bidder on a $28.5 million project to redesign how traffic moves from I-45 to U.S. 59 near the central business district. The project essentially moved the ramps to parallel lanes that carry northbound I-45 to downtown exits.

All of the projects, officials said, will improve freeway traffic by untying interchanges where drivers frequently have to weave to make connections, or where they have to exit the freeway because no direct freeway connection exists.

Significant work, however, never began on any of the I-45 projects. As of a Dec. 8 progress report, the ramp from southbound I-45 to westbound Loop 610 was 9.3 percent complete after work began on June 23, 2014.

Tradeco projects halted in Texas

TxDOT spokeswoman Raquelle Lewis said work can proceed after a new contractor is chosen, which should happen in the summer.

In April and May, with delays mounting, TxDOT took the rare step of declaring Tradeco in default on three major projects around Texas - including a segment of the U.S. 290 widening project. Work on that project resumed in October, four months after the default.

At the time, officials in Houston said the defaults elsewhere in the state did not affect other projects in the Houston area, though at the time those projects were also behind.

Tradeco officials in The Woodlands could not be reached for comment. Previously, officials in Texas and Mexico said the defaults were related to the surety - a financial company that's required to back a contractor, in essence acting as an insurer.

As delays mounted and financing problems arose, officials said the surety told Tradeco to self-default on other jobs around the state.

Those projects, including the I-45 work, took months to sort out, Lewis said.

"We still had to negotiate with their bonding company and work out the details," she said. "It wasn't like you throw up your hands and walk away. There's a lot of items to cover."

After discussions, the surety and TxDOT opted to start the bidding process all over again. Until the projects are rebid, it is unknown how much - if any - the entire delay and failed work cost taxpayers.

TxDOT is negotiating with the surety about covering many of the additional costs, Lewis said, but the final bids on the projects will help determine the overall cost.