More road construction slated to begin in '15

As roads become more congested, the price of oil falls and available funds for road projects dwindle, transportation will continue to be a hot topic throughout the area in 2015. The cities of Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake are poised to reduce delays in some areas by finishing a number of multiyear projects in addition to breaking ground on two major projects that will cause delays for years to come.

Grapevine

The one-mile stretch of FM 2499 bordering Grapevine Mills is getting a top-to-bottom makeover which will not be complete until the end of 2017.

The project aims to separate FM 2499 traffic and local Grapevine Mills traffic so that motorists who are not going to the mall can drive through the area unimpeded.

According to Kristen Stieg, the public information manager for contractor NorthGate Constructors, after construction is complete, there will be two northbound and two southbound FM 2499 main lanes that will be 25–30 feet below the existing roadway that will allow commuter traffic to bypass the Stars and Stripes Way and Grapevine Mills Boulevard intersection.

The project is also constructing two new bridges at Stars and Stripes Way and Grapevine Mills Parkway.

"The [new] Stars and Stripes bridge will open this spring," Steig said. "We committed to starting and finishing the bridge within a year."

Stieg also noted that the other new bridge on Grapevine Mills Parkway will also be completed within a year, but that bridge will not be ready until the end of 2015.

The FM 2499 reconstruction is part of the $1.5 billion DFW Connector Project that was started in February 2010 and was completed in March 2014. The FM 2499 portion was not completed with the rest of the project due to a lack of funds at the time.

NorthGate Constructors is also preparing to start construction on two new highway access ramps on William D. Tate Avenue leading drivers onto Hwy. 121 and Hwy. 360.

"The ramps are a $17 million change order that was not part of the original project," Steig said. "The purpose of the project is to increase mobility on southbound William D. Tate Avenue and Stone-Meyers [Parkway]."

While an official start date for the two new ramps has not been finalized, Stieg said that construction should start in February or March.

The ramps are scheduled to be completed at the same time as the FM 2499 project in 2017.

Southlake

The second phase of reconstruction on FM 1938 will also begin in 2014.

Improvements will begin at SH 114 and extend south toward FM 1709. The roadway will be six lanes from SH 114 to Dove Road and be four lanes from Dove Road to FM 1709. It will be a divided road with a center median, curb and gutter.

In addition to widening and improving the road, the project will also add an 8-foot trail along the east side of Randol Mill Bend to FM 1709, a 5-foot sidewalk along the west side of Randol Mill Bend, additional drainage, and install a new 12-inch water line and 30-inch water main.

Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2012.

"The gap between Phase 1 and 2 was due to a few things such as the Texas Department of Transportation needing to complete an engineering design of this section of the project," said Blake Williams, assistant to the public works director, in an email. "Local funding needed to pay for that engineering design and the logistics of multiple entities working together on such a high profile and complex project."

A dedicated U-turn was completed in 2014 over SH 114. The project was created to ease traffic congestion at the intersection of North Carroll Avenue and SH 114 by constructing a new protected U-turn lane.

Colleyville

SH 26 on the other hand will continue to be a headache to drivers in 2015 and years to come.

"Right now the city water and sewer lines are being moved from under the road," Colleyville Public Works Director Bob Lowry said. "Gas, electric and telecommunications are also being moved."

The good news is that SH 26 Phase 1 from John McCain Road to just north of Pool-Brumlow Road should be substantially complete by April, Lowry said.

The second phase of the SH 26 project is supposed to start sometime in 2015. Phase 2 is projected to take up to three years to complete.

"Everybody complains [about transportation]," Lowry said. "But they need to go to Washington D.C., San Francisco or somewhere else so they would understand that we don't really have a [major] problem here."

In August and September, Lavaca Trail received some much needed attention: Tarrant County crews ripped up the road and replaced it with six inches of asphalt where there used to be only two inches. Jackson Road between Glade Road and Little Bear Creek also received the same treatment in September and October.

Lowry also expects the roundabout at the intersection of Cheek-Sparger and Jackson roads will be completed sometime in February.

"That will be a major mobility improvement by getting rid of a four-way stop sign," Lowry said.

This is Colleyville's fourth roundabout — the other three are at the intersection of Glade Road and Pool and Jackson roads, Bogart Road and Hall and Johnson roads, and John McCain and Pleasant Run roads.

However, plans to improve or reconstruct Glade Road have been put on hold so that the public can vote in a special election on the proposed project.

The proposed $20.8 million project was first brought forward in 2013, and it features a roundabout at Riverwalk Drive and new sidewalks and trails.

In October 2014, a petition with over 800 signatures was presented to the Colleyville City Council asking it to limit the reconstruction on Glade Road. The council opted to send the matter to voters in a special election set for May 9, 2015.

"Voters get to decide what happens with that, so we won't know what happens until the May election," Lowry said. "But we have to do something with it—even if we just repave what's there—because the road is not in very good condition, and some parts are just falling apart."

"There will always be reconstruction," Lowry said. "Nothing lasts forever."