Collin County Commissioners have been working since April to determine the best way to get priority when state transportation funds start trickling in sometime in 2018-19. So far, county officials have identified two major upgrades in the county: a new US 380 bypass around McKinney and a new north-south roadway east of US 75.Lack of infrastructure coupled with limited mobility, population growth, and the possible future availability of state funds has prompted county commissioners, the North Central Texas Council of Governments and several county cities to work together to add more roadway miles to the map.
The Texas Department of Transportation and NCTCOG have developed a Roadway Action Plan for Collin County. Both entities have determined which corridors each organization will evaluate and all of the initial tasks to begin evaluations are now underway.
US 380
County officials began looking at possibilities for US 380 in the spring and found that officials in McKinney were concerned that there might not be enough available right-of-way to turn US 380 into a limited access roadway. Right now, the widely used roadway consists of traffic lights and small spurts of high speed limits. If the roadway was turned into a limited access roadway, it would operate more like US 75, officials said, without the need for traffic-controlling red lights.
In order to turn the road into a limited access roadway, officials anticipate the need for 300 feet of right-of-way on each side. McKinney officials said the right-of-way in some spots of US 380 is less than 150 feet total.
During Monday's Commissioners Court meeting, county officials showed Commissioners a plan that would include a US 380 bypass route just north of McKinney, which would not only allow the roadway to be expanded, but would also solve the issue of limited right-of-way, county officials said.
However, in order to make this roadway a reality a total of $487.8 million in state funding would be needed. Commissioner Duncan Webb said though this seems like a lot of money, he told the court it was not outside the realm of possibility.
At this time, TxDOT is preparing to take a look at the scope of the project to evaluate existing and alternative routes, including the potential northern “loop” around the central part of McKinney where right-of-way is limited.
New roadway
For drivers traveling north and south through Collin County, US 75 remains a priority. Construction to widen US 75 through McKinney was completed last winter. Prior to that, northbound drivers coming from Dallas experienced delays when US 75 bottlenecked from four lanes to two lanes at SH 121, the city’s southern border.
With new efforts to widen US 75 from I-635 in Dallas to SH 121, that could again cause McKinney to act as a choke point for travelers. The project requires consensus from cities along the corridor before construction can begin, but local leaders are already anticipating its impact.
The dependence upon US 75 as the county's sole north-south arterial may come to an end if county commissioners are able to construct a new major roadway between US 75 and Lavon Lake.
Several examples of the roadway's alignment were shown to commissioners Monday, but the official route location has not been selected. The example routes shown are estimated to cost $1 billion to construct and would act as a reliever to traffic on US 75.
NCTCOG will evaluate the north-south corridors from east of US 75 to the eastern county line. The initial evaluation will include segments from:
- US 75 between FM 543 and Telephone Road, south across US 380, east of the McKinney National Airport, south across SH 78 to the President George Bush Turnpike;
- From US 380 near Princeton, south in the peninsula of Lake Lavon, south across the lake, south across SH 78 to the President George Bush Turnpike;
- Along or near to the existing alignment of SH 78 from US 380 south to SH 205, across Lake Ray Hubbard, southwest 1-2.5 miles southeast of and parallel to SH 78 toPresident George Bush Turnpike;
- and the Outer Loop from US 380 south to IH 30.
