Collin County Commissioners on Monday approved county staff to move forward with acquiring the right-of-way needed for a portion of the Collin County Outer Loop.

This approval allows the county to move forward with the purchase of nine undeveloped parcels of land between Preston Road and the Dallas North Tollway in Celina.

The commissioners are going through condemnation proceedings, otherwise known as using eminent domain, to acquire the land.

"The Commissioners Court has given our staff general, blanket authority to start these proceedings, although we are still working on informal agreements with the landowners," Commissioner Susan Fletcher said in an email. "This is very routine. ... It comes down to 'what is a fair price' based on what a reasonable seller and buyer would agree to."

After the condemnation notice is filed, court filings, the appointment of citizens to panels and depositions will take place, Fletcher said in the email.

"Both sides can incur more cost—attorneys, experts, court costs–in a condemnation process than they would in an informal scenario," Fletcher said in the email. "The legislature dictates the requirements of the condemnation process to ensure that the owner is protected."

The Collin County Outer Loop would extend east from Denton County across the city’s northern boundaries and south to SH 78. It is expected to act as a reliever to traffic on US 380 and SH 78.

The proposed loop already has a two-lane service road that runs between US 75 and SH 121 in Melissa. Construction is projected to eventually begin on another service road from the Dallas North Tollway to SH 121, and eventually run east of SH 78 and south to I-30.

The road would be the “next I-635” in terms of moving people across the county, County Judge Keith Self said in a previous interview with Community Impact Newspaper.