FORNEY, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) awarded a $5.04 million contract last month to relocate ramps along U.S. Highway 80 in Forney.
FORNEY, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) awarded a $5.04 million contract last month to relocate ramps along U.S. Highway 80 in Forney.
The contract was awarded to Ed Bell Construction Company and construction dates will be established in upcoming meetings between TxDOT and the company, according to TxDOT.
The project let on June 2, 2016, with 279 working days and a projected 14 months with barricades, according to Kaufman County officials.
The project consists of relocating entrance and exit ramps on the south service road of U.S. Highway 80 between Farm-to-Market (FM) 460 and FM 740, also known as Pinson Road, and to redesign the service road to continue along the highway and as a one-way road — instead of its current configuration which requires a left turn near Broad Street to continue on the service road.
In May, the City of Forney removed the replica Statue of Liberty and placed it in storage in anticipation of this project. Local officials plan to work with the Texas Department of Transportation to propose a new entry-way monument for the statue.
In regard to the ramp relocations, the current FM 460 onramp to eastbound U.S. Highway 80 will be replaced with a new Broad Street exit.
A new Pinson Road exit will be constructed just east of the current Broad Street exit, which will be closed, and an eastbound highway onramp will be constructed in place of the existing Pinson Road exit.
TxDOT is also requiring the installation of safety lighting at the ramp gores — which is the triangular area between the onramps and the highway as the lanes merge.
