County Commissioner Ken Clark

Alert 13

This Alert is the 2nd in the series discussing the upcoming bond election on Nov. 7th. 1) Road bond 35 million 2) Facilities bond 93.6 million for a new Justice Center/ Jail along with # of other projects. 3) Grand Parkway 1.3 million to do the environmental Impact along with the alignment of the route. The results to the survey should be
available in about 2-3 weeks.

Ken

County Commissioner Ken Clark
Citizen Advisory Alert
September 24th 2000


Grand Parkway

The Grand Parkway bond, which will be on the November 7th ballot, would fund the preparatory work for the future Parkway segment running west of I-45 to the county line. Phase One would include the Environmental
Impact Study and determine the exact alignment of the road. (TxDOT has ruled out the Santa Fe Route.)

If passed by the voters, the measure would authorize the entire project but would only fund phase one at a cost of $1.3 million. Phase 1 will take approximately two years to complete. Construction would start six
years later at the earliest. Our local share of the construction would be about $3.3 million for phase two. The segment east of I-45 may or may not be included in the Grand Parkway. The local share of 4.6 million will leverage 46 million in state and federal monies.

The road bonds issue includes $300K for the study of FM 646 (from I-45 to Hwy 270) to determine whether this section needs to be part of the Grand Parkway or just an improved roadway. This approach gives us a lot
of flexibility, maximizing available options while minimizing cost. If that section of FM 646 were included in the Grand Parkway, it would have overpasses at Hwy 3 and the railroad track, improving traffic flow. On
the other hand, the county would have to acquire additional right of way width to allow construction of the Parkway along that route.

Our analysis should also help us determine whether the rest of FM 646, from Hwy 270 to Hwy 146, should be included in the Parkway or just improved from its present size and condition.

Allocation of Proposed Road Bond Funds