SH 26 in Colleyville is moving to its next phase of construction months ahead of schedule, Colleyville City Council said at its meeting July 2.

Area Texas Department of Transportation Engineer Minh Tran said that while Phase 2 is ongoing, Phase 2 and Phase 3 will overlap to avoid heavy traffic periods while school is in session.

"This is really good news," Mayor Richard Newton said.

He emphasized this will likely translate to the project being completed ahead of schedule, although Tran did not provide a specific time when the traffic switch would begin, as final agreements are still being resolved.

The transition from Phase 2 to Phase 3 is expected to take several weeks, with various parts of the road being closed as left-turn access is limited with the various traffic pattern changes. For instance, drivers used to being on the far left side of the road traveling south may find themselves on the far right side in some places instead.

Phase 2 is scheduled to finish in October. After the transition from Phase 2 for the majority of the highway is complete, Phase 3 work will officially begin.

In this phase, traffic will shift to the west side of the freeway from Centerpark to John McCain to construct northbound main lanes and drainage. Crews will complete the remaining intersections from Centerpark to John McCain and install the driveways on the east side of the corridor.

Original plans estimated the switch from Phase 3 to Phase 4 to take place in June 2019.

In March, TxDOT began to transition the 3-mile stretch of SH 26 into Phase 2 of the construction plan. The entire $38.2 million project is scheduled to finish in 2019 and will widen SH 26 from four lanes to six lanes.

The city recently launched its latest effort to help support the businesses along this corridor with its Quarter 3 Promotion. Colleyville residents were mailed gift certificates they can use as a rebate when they shop at local businesses.