FORNEY, Texas — The south side U.S. Highway 80 ramp relocation and service road project will see a 2016 start date, according to Kaufman County Precinct 2 Commissioner Skeet Phillips who sat down with inForney.com to discuss the latest updates on the project.
FORNEY, Texas — The south side U.S. Highway 80 ramp relocation and service road project will see a 2016 start date, according to Kaufman County Precinct 2 Commissioner Skeet Phillips who sat down with inForney.com to discuss the latest updates on the project.
In late 2012, the City of Forney funded environmental studies and schematics for the project, also known as the Liberty Hill project, for the south U.S. Highway 80 ramps — a Texas Department of Transportation roadway. The plan was to redesign the ramps along the south service road in between Farm-to-Market (FM) 460 and Pinson Road and to redesign the service road to continue along the highway and as a one-way road.
The City of Forney also budgeted $200,000 for engineering in construction plans.
In 2014, after voters approved a $56 million county-wide transportation bond, the project was shifted to the county for completion.
Much of the original plans remain, including the closure of the FM 460 onramp to eastbound U.S. Highway 80, the Broad Street exit, and the Pinson Road exit. The service road will be constructed to follow the highway instead of continuing onto Broad Street and requiring a left turn at Liberty Hill. The service road will be changed to a one-way road.
A new Pinson Road exit will be constructed just east of the current Broad Street exit and an eastbound highway onramp will be constructed in place of the existing Pinson Road exit.
Phillips says engineers are currently working to determine the best way to exit FM 460 and Broad Street traffic which may include round-a-bout intersections north and south of U.S. Highway 80 at FM 460. The original plans called for a Broad Street exit at the location of the existing FM 460 onramp.
The project is expected to go out for bids and is slated for construction in June 2016 with construction taking 12 to 18 months.
