Tuesday, May 14, 2024
While the county waits for the state to widen U.S. Highway 377 through the busiest part of town, the city of Granbury, the county, and Granbury ISD are looking to partner on improving Old Granbury Road so that it can serve as a traffic relief route.
That possibility was discussed at the recent interlocal government meeting held at Granbury City Hall. Representatives of all three entities indicated that a partnership on the project would be a good idea.
Much of the county’s development is occurring in that area.
City Manager Chris Coffman said he has spoken to the City Council about the growing need to improve Old Granbury Road, which branches off of 377 not far from East Pearl Street/Business 377 and runs behind, and beyond, the Luton Ranch Shopping Center where H-E-B and Marshalls are located.
“I would invite the county to partner with the city to engage an engineering firm,” Coffman stated, adding that perhaps the firm should be Teague Nall and Perkins, Inc., a company with which city and county officials are familiar.
He stated that the entities could have a comprehensive study done and a plan created for how best to improve the thoroughfare where, he noted, there are no shoulders and drivers often exceed the speed limit.
“I think an engineering team put together to represent both the city and county would be a smart thing to start thinking about, collaboratively,” Coffman said, adding that he hears from the community about that road “over and over again.”
He said the road could be an “alternative route” during the time it will take the Texas Department of Transportation to improve 377. TxDOT plans to widen, from four lanes to six, a nine-mile section of the highway, from Business 377 South near Holmes Road and Pirate Drive to north of FM 167/Fall Creek Highway.
The first phase, which will include reconstruction of State Highway 144 from Autumn Ridge Road to FM 51 (Paluxy Road) and the widening of 377 from Business 377 South to the lake bridge, is scheduled to be awarded to a bidder in 2026. The rest of the phased project is scheduled to be awarded in 2032.
Last year, Coffman hired a consultant, John Polster of Dallas-based Innovative Transportation Solutions, Inc., to try to find money to speed the project along. Polster and his company have been successful at getting money re-appropriated to their clients after other funded transportation projects were hit with delays.
At the recent interlocal government meeting, Coffman invited others to “chime in” about the proposed Old Granbury Road partnership and noted that no commitments were being made at the gathering.
Granbury ISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn said that a future school is planned for the area around Peck Road and Old Granbury Road and added that Trustee Karen Lowery mentioned at a recent workshop the “amount of pressure the district puts on infrastructure” when school is in session and buses are running. He stated that he believes it would be “a good investment for the city and county and school to work together on improving” Old Granbury Road.
County Judge Ron Massingill also weighed in.
“I think it’s a great idea for us to work together because that’s going to be a real mess when they start fixing 377,” he said.
Coffman said he would contact the engineering firm to arrange meetings that include representatives of the other entities, such as Massingill and Glenn, with the intention of obtaining an estimate for a comprehensive plan prior to all three governing bodies setting their budgets for the next fiscal year.
