SHEPHERD — Texas Department of Transportation representatives provided information and schematics to area residents on the scope of a road project to take place in the area.
While there were no speakers at a public hearing on Dec. 19, maps, PowerPoint presentations and posters were available at Shepherd High School showing the plans to convert U.S. 59 to the IH 69 corridor.
The purpose of the work is to upgrade the road to interstate highway standards.
The scope of the project includes 6 miles of road from the city of Shepherd north to the Trinity River Bridge. It will create four 12-foot travel lanes, 4-foot-wide inside shoulders and 12-foot-wide outside shoulders.
Additionally, there will be two 12-foot frontage lands with similar shoulders. Along the frontage roads, TxDOT plans to build 6-foot-wide sidewalks from FM 223 to Lake Pool Road. There will be overpasses and turnarounds at FM 1127 and Lake Pool Road.
TxDOT has approved $279.3 million for the project; right-of-way acquisition is expected to begin in the early part of the year.
