Million Dollar Road Projects Considered For Future

HOUSTON COUNTY- Houston County has several million dollar road projects - spanning the course of four years - in the works.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) website, about nine miles of road from South Highway 7 from the Leon County line to South Highway 21 will be widened. Designs have started, but won’t be complete until December of this year, project officials said.

TxDOT anticipates the project will be ready for bid by July 2013. The cost will be about $6.5 million, with construction and engineering. According to TxDOT, it is traditionally funded by legislative appropriations and bond issuances.

Other roads slated for widening include Farm to Market Road 227 and BU 287-V, up to County Road 1685. Designs for that project won’t start until 2013, and bids should be placed by 2014. The cost is about $4.8 million; Farm to Market Road 1280 near Highways 21 and 19, with designs starting in 2013. The cost will be about $3.8 million; Farm to Market Road 1733 near Highway 21 and Highway 7. TxDOT won’t have the designs until 2014, but estimates costs at about $4 million; and about 17 miles of road between Farm to Market Road 2022 at the Anderson County line and Farm to Market Road 3313 is also expected to be widened. However, designs won’t start until 2013, and estimated costs are about $4 million.

One upcoming project, which should be ready for bids by August of this year, is widening about six miles of roadway near Farm to Market Road 2423 from BU 298-V to Farm to Market Road 2022. The total cost is about $2.25 million.

A project up for both widening and rehabilitation is about 1.5 miles of road from FM 2781 on the Houston and Trinity county lines near Farm to Market Road 1280. Designs for the project actually started in 2008 and received an environmental clearance in 2009. Bids were advertised by June 2009, but the project has yet to receive one. The total cost is more than $3.7 million.

A $7.4 million project, which started in October 2011, is rebuilding the roadway on South Highway 7 from east of Farm to Market Road 227 to west of the Neches River bridge. According to TxDOT, about 12 percent of the work is complete.

A project with designs starting in September 2011 and anticipated completion in August of this year is to replace the bridge near Rich Creek and County Road 1750. The project should be ready for bid by January of next year, and is expected to cost about $365,000.

A project near 50 percent completion is the installation of upgraded drainage structures near Farm to Market Road 230 from South Highway 19 to the Walker County line. Estimated costs are about $6.1 million.

Another drainage project, which was ready for bids this month, is near Farm to Market Road 1280 from South Highway 19 to the Trinity County line. Costs are about $704,000.

A project near completion is rebuilding about 11 miles of roadway from South Highway 21 to South Highway 7. Work began in June of 2009, and nearly 88 percent of the project is complete. The cost was about $4.47 million and funded by federal stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.