Published: April 17, 2008 06:01 pm         

End of 2008 expected to see SH 205 relief

By Leslie Gibson

Herald-Banner Staff



By the middle of this year, almost all of the city of Rockwall’s 2002 road bond projects should be completed; by the year’s end, both the bypass for State Highway 205, and the State Highway 205 reconstruction should be finished, and, it was learned at Wednesday’s chamber luncheon, that in 2012, “190” or the eastern extension of the George Bush Turnpike should meet Interstate 30.

Mayor Bill Cecil, an active member of the Rockwall County Road Consortium, updated the Rockwall Chamber of Commerce on road projects.

By a margin of about 75 percent, Cecil said, citizens approved a total of $95 million the 2002 and 2005 road bond projects.

The 2002 bond was for $20 million. Finished are the streets of Clark, Industrial, Townsend Dr., Ross, Lakeshore Dr., and Summer Lee East; Sam Houston and Boydstun will be complete soon, and Kaufman in 2009.

In 2005, the $54 million in bonds included $45 million for the completely city-funded bypass to the overburdened State Highway 205, well on schedule he said, for a Dec. 31, 2008 completion.

As the bypass heads east and then south from its entry/exit off of SH 205 in north Rockwall, it will come between Ralph Hall Airport and the City Service Center on Airport Road and head straight to Interstate 30. Impact fees will be assessed on units, about “$400 some odd dollars per unit,” Cecil said, stating he is unsure of the actual amount. A little more right of way needs to be secured, Cecil told the full house.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), though it has no money now, had already committed $19 million to the bypass overpass which should get underway in March 2009 and be completed in an 18-month time period. Right of way will start being purchased “very soon” for that, Cecil said. Two businesses will have some access impact, he said.

The rest of the 2005 bond projects, Ranch Trail, Shady Dale and White Road, are to be completed in 2008.

As the city takes care of the bypass, the state is on schedule with the reconstruction of the portion of SH205 which intersects Interstate 30, from Tubbs south of the interstate, to Yellowjacket north of it. The interchange and that road portion are to be completed by the end of the year, Cecil said. In response to a question, he noted that the northern section, from Yellowjacket to past the downtown square, will be a two year project, with utilities already being moved.

Concerning the eastern extension of George Bush, Cecil projects a 2012 connect date with I-30, though some predict 2011. TxDOT pulled funding for it, so emergency money gained through State Highway 121 toll revenues will pay for the interchange with I-30.

Cecil also noted that the City of Rockwall has 140 miles of roadway for which it is responsible. Within the city, the State of Texas is responsible for 23 miles of roads.

“Every one of our main roads is a state facility,” he said. “We must work with other entities to see that this road work gets done.”

He expressed thanks of the two-year old Rockwall County Road Consortium, of which he is an active member, and the thanks of the city, for the chamber’s decision to become a voice on road issues. “Elected official talking to an elected official — that does have an impact,” he said. “But when the community is saying the same story, that creates a bond and a power way above what elected officials can do,” he said.

“Nothing could have been done, nothing is being done, and nothing will be done, without that voice,” he said, thanking them for their past approvals of road bond issues.

TxDOT is financing about $55 million in road improvements in the city, he said.