Trustee Update: FM 1626 Expansion Project

The TXDOT project manager met with the Trustees at the end of September and explained a little of what to expect over the next year and a half. He had just been assigned the project and didn’t know all the details yet, but here are some highlights:

•The project will kick-off around October 25. A survey will be conducted of the entire project to identify the right-of-way border, and black plastic silt fence will be installed along that border to control sediment runoff.
•Work will then start at the bridge near Brodie, moving east and ending at Deane Drive just east of the church. Work will first be done on the north side of 1626. Then the contractor will begin again near Brodie on the south (our) side.
•When the project reaches the north side of 1626 across from the church, what is now the westbound lane will close, and traffic in both directions will detour to the south side of the road. The right-of-way in front of the church will likely need to be cleared to allow that detour.
•The expansion of lanes right in front of the church will take place near the end of the project. Then, what is now the eastbound lane will close, and traffic in both directions will detour to the north side of the road.

The project manager confirmed our tasks. We need to dig up and move the steel-frame sign at the corner of Deane Drive because we want to re-use it. [Does anyone have a jackhammer and a strong back?] The cost to move and re-use our electric sign was so high that the Church Council decided months ago not to pursue that. Instead, we will disconnect the sign from its power lines at the slab, and the TXDOT contractor will remove it at no cost to the church. The Trustees consider this a really good development.