After five years of discussion, an election and several City Council workshops, construction on Glade Road in Colleyville will finally begin this summer.
The almost $17 million project will reconstruct Glade from the western city limits to Heritage Avenue and will be broken into five phases of construction over the next 10 years or more.
The road, a busy east-west corridor, has a daily average traffic count of more than 17,000 vehicles and growing, which is why Mayor Richard Newton said the road is desperately in need of safety and capacity improvements.
“Glade Road gets a lot of traffic in the mornings and afternoons; a lot of work traffic, a lot of pass-through traffic especially from Heritage to [SH] 26,” he said.
Phase 1 construction
Phase 1 of the project, between Bransford Road and Manning Drive, will be split into two phases. Phase 1A runs from Bransford to SH 26. Phase 1B runs from SH 26 to Manning. Council decided to split the first phase into two sections because right of way is still being acquired for the Phase 1B area.
“We did that for one simple reason: We wanted to get work done while Bransford Elementary was out for the summer,” Newton said.
Public Works Director Jeremy Hutt said work in Phase 1 includes adding a new through lane at the Bransford and Glade intersection. He said it is important the work get started in the summer because the road will be closed in the 1A area during construction.
“With the amount of work that needs to be done at that location, we just can’t maintain traffic, and there’s no room for a temporary road off to the side,” he said. “The project will probably not be completed by the end of the summer, but if we can get the heavy construction that’s going to result in the traffic interruption and the road closures done, that’s what we are shooting for.”
Phase 1A is expected to start in June. Classes at Bransford Elementary School resume Aug. 21.
The remaining portion of Phase 1 will move forward to construction once the city acquires the necessary right of way. Phase 1B includes the realignment of the Bedford Road intersection; a roundabout at Riverwalk Drive; and lowering the elevation of Glade at Bluebonnet Drive to improve visibility, which removes the need for stop signs at this intersection.
Interim Maintenance
In order to address the pavement condition of the sections of Glade that are not slated for reconstruction in the near future, there will be interim maintenance done on sections of Glade. In May interim work will be done to address portions of the existing pavement between Bluebonnet and Pool Road.
“I think it’s worth doing an overlay of pavement—not reconstruction—which can be done pretty quick, but it won’t last a long time,” Newton said. “People shouldn’t have to put up with bad pavement in the interim while they are waiting for [a certain phase of the project to start].”
Council Member Nancy Coplen said she has heard from some residents who are opposed to the interim work.
“I have a lot of screaming people complaining about us doing this work and then going back and tearing up it again,” she said. “They don’t want temporary; they want it fixed.”
Phase 2
At council’s April 17 work session, members examined possible designs for Phase 2, which runs from Manning to Pool/Jackson Road.
Newton said the council decided to take a look at different designs for Phase 2 as the debate that led to the Glade election in 2015 was mainly pertaining to that phase.
“There’s an area in Phase 2 where there are houses that face Glade Road along with a lot of huge, mature trees near the road,” he said. “The original plan was going to take out those trees and put a trail really close to those houses, and that created a lot of controversy.”
In the work session, council chose a new design that will not require the trees to be removed.
Judy Chapel, who lives on Glade, said in a council meeting that the Council picked a choice that eliminates her previous concerns about the Glade Road project.
“I think it’s going to work out good for everybody,” she said.
Council is expected to vote on the design in May, with Phase 2 construction expected to start in 2018.
Summer projects
Hutt said residents will see a lot of orange construction cones in the city this summer as there will be multiple projects going on besides Glade, including the Texas Department of Transportation’s SH 26 project, which began in November and widens SH 26 from John McCain Road to Brown Trail.
Those summer projects also include the reconstruction of Pleasant Run Road from John McCain to Shelton Drive, the rehabilitation of L.D. Lockett Road from Precinct Line Road to Westcoat Drive and the rehabilitation of Westcoat between McDonwell School Road and John McCain.
Hutt said although staff understands SH 26 is a large transportation project, city road projects must progress as well.
“With [SH] 26 being an over two-year project, we can’t not do construction for the city projects because of a state project,” he said. “It’s short-term pain for a long-term gain.”
