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TxDOT explains plan to widen US 75
Kelsey Kruzich / Staff Photo – The Texas Department of Transportation plans on adding an extra lane to U.S. 75 along a 6.5-mile stretch between Spring Creek Parkway and State Highway 121. Construction on the project is expected to begin early next year and should take two and a half years to complete.
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
Texas Department of Transportation officials laid out the details of a long-awaited project to widen U.S. 75, which is used by about 230,000 vehicles per day, during a public meeting held Tuesday at the Allen Senior Recreation Center.
The $70 million project will add an additional lane to the highway in each direction along a 6.5-mile stretch between Spring Creek Parkway in Plano and State Highway 121 in Allen. It will be paid for with money from the $3.2 billion paid by the North Texas Tollway Authority when it assumed control of SH 121.
In addition to expanding the highway from six to eight lanes, the project will also rebuild frontage roads between Stacy Road and Ridgeview Drive, improve the interchange ramp at Legacy Drive, and widen the bridges over Stacy, Bethany Drive, McDermott Drive and Rowlett Creek.
TxDOT is also looking at using a different bidding process than normal to speed up construction. Rather than simply taking the lowest bid in terms of dollar amount, which is the standard process, it's considering grading contractors by both how inexpensively and quickly they complete the project.
“For this one, they’re looking at an alternative bid that may get better production out of their contractors,” Honey said.
Honey said the project won’t disrupt traffic too much. He added the contract will specify that the company working on the improvements will be penalized if they keep parts of the road closed for too long.
Cecil Saldana, TxDOT right-of-way supervisor, said no additional right-of-way easements will be needed to complete the project.
In response to concerns raised at earlier public hearings, a traffic noise study was done to measure the effect of the expanded highway on nearby neighborhoods. Steve Shedd of the Jacobs Engineering Group said the study determined traffic noise abatement walls were both “feasible and reasonable” between McDermott Drive and Exchange Parkway. He added that those walls have been added to the project schematic.
The addition of those walls was an area of concern for one resident who spoke during the public hearing. David Bishop, who owns a dental practice in Allen, expressed concerns that the wall would limit the visibility of a new $3 million dental office he’s building along Exchange.
“It’s designed for appearance, because dentistry is a business that requires exposure,” Bishop said. “That particular process of the wall …. is extremely detrimental to the exposure and the development of this particular building as designed.”
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