Friday, May 10, 2024
Granbury City Manager Chris Coffman has hired a consultant to secure unused transportation infrastructure dollars in hopes of moving up the Texas Department of Transportation’s timeline for widening U.S. Highway 377.
On Tuesday, John Polster of Dallas-based Innovative Transportation Solutions, Inc. met with city officials and city staff in the first of what will be quarterly meetings.
Mayor Jim Jarratt, Mayor Pro Tem Trish Reiner and councilman Steve Vale were among the 13 people who gathered at City Hall for the meeting.
Coffman said that county officials will be invited to future meetings.
The city manager said that Polster and his company have been “very successful” at getting money re-appropriated to their clients after other funded transportation projects were hit with delays.
He explained that delays are sometimes caused by such things as lawsuits or challenges in moving utility lines.
Coffman told the Hood County News that, per the Legislature, transportation dollars must be spent rather than sitting unused, so when lengthy delays happen with one project the money is sometimes shifted to a plan that is ready to move forward.
Polster affirmed at the Tuesday meeting that this often occurs and indicated that it is important to have projects ready in the event that money becomes available.
Local officials are anxious for TxDOT to get started with its plans to widen a nine-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 377 from four lanes to six. The expansion includes the lake bridge.
Expansion will be from Business 377 South near Holmes Road and Pirate Drive to north of FM 167 (Fall Creek Highway).
As part of that work, the interchange at State Highway 144 will be reconstructed from Autumn Ridge Road to FM 51 (Paluxy Road).
The “breakout project,” which will include the 144 reconstruction and the widening of 377 from Business 377 South to the lake bridge, is scheduled to be awarded by TxDOT in 2026. The rest of the phased project is scheduled to be awarded in 2032.
There is hope of moving up those timelines and Coffman indicated that the city will do everything possible to make that happen.
GETTING READY
Polster said that the environmental portion of the project is expected to be “cleared” by late 2023. After that, the process of acquiring right-of-way and moving utility lines will begin.
Polster said that those tasks usually take 18-24 months and involve “a separate pot of money” than construction dollars.
The first phase of the project is expected to cost between $45-$50 million, but costs are rising significantly, so that is a concern for Polster and city officials. TxDOT has “earmarked” about $20 million for the breakout phase, Polster said.
Coffman told the Hood County News, “We’re waiting for (TxDOT) to get to what we call a 60% design and, with that, we will identify what utility lines have to be relocated. That includes all utilities, not just city utilities.
“They’re identifying where every power pole is, every gas line, every water tap, every water line, every sewer line, every buried fiber optic cable there is to be moved. They have to identify all that in the plan. And once that’s completed, then it’s up to the different utilities to move those utilities out of the way while they’re finalizing their plans to get them ready to bid.”
Polster said he sees a “gap that’s coming in the next year or so” during which he anticipates TxDOT having funds available for possible reallocation.
“We’re going to work with Chris, we’re going to find those pressure points on this project, to make sure it hits the let date,” he said. “And we’re going to take advantage of the fact that an overwhelming majority of other entities don’t do anything to affect their own destiny.”
TAKING ACTION
Coffman said that local officials are involved in U.S. Highway 377 both on a “micro” level and a “macro level.”
Expansion of 377 through town is the micro level, he said, while local leaders’ participation in the Tex-21 transportation infrastructure organization and its U.S. Highway 377 Corridor Coalition is a broader effort to call attention to the highway’s importance as a significant corridor in the state.
Coffman said that he hired Polster and his company in February. He stated that the city is paying $3,500 per month for Innovative Transportation Solution’s services, which includes engineering help.
The contract can be canceled at any time, he said.
Polster indicated that Granbury is ahead of the game when it comes to competing for coveted transportation dollars.
“Getting (the project) cleared is the number one thing you can do to control your destiny because once a project’s cleared, the whole world opens up to you,” he said.
Polster said that his team’s work for the city of Granbury will include researching formula-driven infrastructure grants that have been made available through the Biden administration.
As Tuesday’s discussion drew to a close, Polster shared what he said he typically tells his clients.
“We are basically pushing a 5,000-pound sphere on a one and a half percent grade,” he said. “It takes a lot of effort and a lot of time to get it started, but once it’s moving, you can’t stop it from its accomplished goal.”
