If you leave Temple for a few years, on your return you might find yourself getting lost navigating miles of new roads that were not there when you left.

The lion’s share of changes will likely come with construction on Loop 363 between its southern intersection with Interstate 35 and Fifth Street, and anticipated work on the city-initiated outer loop project.

Between those major cluster of projects and an anticipated widening of I-35 through Temple, the next 10 years or so could result in a changing face of the city.

The Loop 363 project, according to Texas Depart-ment of Transportation officials, should result in smoother running traffic in a busy section of town and at one of the busiest intersections in town where the loop meets up with I-35.

The TxDOT interchange project at the Loop and I-35 is a $69 million project that began in 2006 and has a 2009 estimated completion date. The interchange is designed to uncork the traditional bottleneck in the city at the point where the loop passes over the interstate.

Stoplights control both loop traffic and traffic on the I-35 access roads, resulting in loop traffic backing up.

The project, when completed, will create a three-level intersection with I-35 passing through the bottom level, the loop access roads at a light-controlled intersection on the second level and unimpeded Loop 363 traffic on the third level.

From about 57th Street to Fifth Street, the $28-million loop improvement project has an estimated completion date of 2009. The finished product will result in four main lanes and at least three access lanes, as well as a 10-lane 31st Street bridge, including turnaround lanes.

John Obr, area engineer for the Waco TxDOT district, said from his office in Belton that the interchange project, being done by Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio, is about 60 percent complete.

Obr said motorists in the area can expect changes in traffic patterns during the coming weeks of summer related to that project.

“We’ll be putting all (Loop 363) traffic on the frontage roads currently under construction,” he said. “Then we can switch to constructing the new freeway lanes.”

Those lanes will be the main loop lanes on the third level of the interchange and will not be impeded by lights, he said.

Once construction begins on the main lanes of the loop, bridges familiar to loop travelers will begin to tumble.