News Update
McKinney roads high on county's project priority list
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
Collin County has a significant amount of transportation funds at its disposal, and McKinney could be an early beneficiary.
County Commissioner Duncan Webb on Tuesday told the McKinney City Council that two of the city's highest-priority road projects are near the top of the county's list of new projects that could be funded by part of $16 million in available Regional Toll Revenue (RTR) funds.
The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) advised the county about six months ago that it had available earnings on remaining RTR funds, as well as savings from projects that were on an original $900 million allocation it received about five years ago from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA).
Webb asked cities in the county to submit their respective top five transportation needs, and received a response detailing 100 projects totaling more than $1 billion worth of construction, engineering and right-of-way requests. The county selected 64 projects for RTR and other funding that were on county thoroughfare, had added capacity and weren't already fully funded.
It then ranked each project based on related criteria such as necessary funding, stage of project, average daily traffic, mobility increase and availability of other or matching funds. Webb said that because of the county's analysis and ranking, it pushed itself to the forefront for future state and federal funds.
"There are going to be some major opportunities, I think, over the next few years where cities are going to have to decline funding for projects because they don't have their master [plan], they don't have their engineering done," he told the council. "And I want them to be able to leapfrog them and get our projects done, especially given the growth that's going on in this county."
There are 13 existing county projects that still need a total of $77 million in RTR funding, including four projects along U.S. Highway 75. Subtract that from the $93 million remaining from the NTTA allocation, and the county's left with close to $16 million for new projects.
The top three projects are: Exchange Parkway from U.S. 75 to Allen Heights; Farm-to-Market (FM) 1378 and Parker Road; and Routh Creek Parkway. But the county hopes to soon have access to at least $8 million of the $18 million recently freed up by federal funding of the President George Bush Turnpike-U.S. 75 project.
And it anticipates additional savings, which Webb said could be used for the next top projects.
The highest and third-highest ranked of those projects are in McKinney.
Highest is the Stacy Road/FM 2786 project from Ridge Road to State Highway 121, and third is the FM 546 connector between State Highway 5 and Airport Drive. The two projects would need about $7.7 million.
"The 546 project is part of our airport tax-increment reinvestment zone, so there are opportunities there, and as development occurs, we can partner to make that project happen quicker," Mayor Brian Loughmiller said Tuesday. "For the airport to expand to the point we want it to expand to from an economic development standpoint, we will need that road."
Webb said the commissioners realized that project's importance, and that the quicker its engineering is done, the better access it will have to federal funds. "I think the court recognizes the impact of giving that road upgrades to not only the city but the county as a while," he said.
The county ranked McKinney's two submitted projects on Virginia Parkway - from Mallard Lakes to U.S. 75 and from Ridge Road to Mallard Lakes - as 13th and 16th on the list, so they likely won't receive RTR funds anytime soon.
T
hough Webb said the rankings aren't a static list, he and council members are confident McKinney's projects will remain a top priority as funding continues to be available.
"The priorities may shift a little bit, but the criteria won't change," said District 2 Councilmember Geralyn Kever, who's also on the RTC. "Not only will this list be productive, I think, for RTR dollars, but as shovel-ready dollars become available, this will serve as a blueprint. The more projects we can get to that shovel-ready standpoint, I think the more dollars are going to come to the county and the city."
Kever emphasized how the county is "taking a lead and pulsing their community and trying to figure out what roads are most important to [their] citizens." She and Webb said typically the county looks to the Council of Governments (COG) to provide such a priority list.
"This is a first; this hasn't been done to COG and RTC. They were very surprised," Webb said. "I think it's taken TxDOT aback, too. They are reeling that we are actually taking control over these funds."
County Commissioner Duncan Webb on Tuesday told the McKinney City Council that two of the city's highest-priority road projects are near the top of the county's list of new projects that could be funded by part of $16 million in available Regional Toll Revenue (RTR) funds.
The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) advised the county about six months ago that it had available earnings on remaining RTR funds, as well as savings from projects that were on an original $900 million allocation it received about five years ago from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA).
Webb asked cities in the county to submit their respective top five transportation needs, and received a response detailing 100 projects totaling more than $1 billion worth of construction, engineering and right-of-way requests. The county selected 64 projects for RTR and other funding that were on county thoroughfare, had added capacity and weren't already fully funded.
It then ranked each project based on related criteria such as necessary funding, stage of project, average daily traffic, mobility increase and availability of other or matching funds. Webb said that because of the county's analysis and ranking, it pushed itself to the forefront for future state and federal funds.
"There are going to be some major opportunities, I think, over the next few years where cities are going to have to decline funding for projects because they don't have their master [plan], they don't have their engineering done," he told the council. "And I want them to be able to leapfrog them and get our projects done, especially given the growth that's going on in this county."
There are 13 existing county projects that still need a total of $77 million in RTR funding, including four projects along U.S. Highway 75. Subtract that from the $93 million remaining from the NTTA allocation, and the county's left with close to $16 million for new projects.
The top three projects are: Exchange Parkway from U.S. 75 to Allen Heights; Farm-to-Market (FM) 1378 and Parker Road; and Routh Creek Parkway. But the county hopes to soon have access to at least $8 million of the $18 million recently freed up by federal funding of the President George Bush Turnpike-U.S. 75 project.
And it anticipates additional savings, which Webb said could be used for the next top projects.
The highest and third-highest ranked of those projects are in McKinney.
Highest is the Stacy Road/FM 2786 project from Ridge Road to State Highway 121, and third is the FM 546 connector between State Highway 5 and Airport Drive. The two projects would need about $7.7 million.
"The 546 project is part of our airport tax-increment reinvestment zone, so there are opportunities there, and as development occurs, we can partner to make that project happen quicker," Mayor Brian Loughmiller said Tuesday. "For the airport to expand to the point we want it to expand to from an economic development standpoint, we will need that road."
Webb said the commissioners realized that project's importance, and that the quicker its engineering is done, the better access it will have to federal funds. "I think the court recognizes the impact of giving that road upgrades to not only the city but the county as a while," he said.
The county ranked McKinney's two submitted projects on Virginia Parkway - from Mallard Lakes to U.S. 75 and from Ridge Road to Mallard Lakes - as 13th and 16th on the list, so they likely won't receive RTR funds anytime soon.
T
hough Webb said the rankings aren't a static list, he and council members are confident McKinney's projects will remain a top priority as funding continues to be available.
"The priorities may shift a little bit, but the criteria won't change," said District 2 Councilmember Geralyn Kever, who's also on the RTC. "Not only will this list be productive, I think, for RTR dollars, but as shovel-ready dollars become available, this will serve as a blueprint. The more projects we can get to that shovel-ready standpoint, I think the more dollars are going to come to the county and the city."
Kever emphasized how the county is "taking a lead and pulsing their community and trying to figure out what roads are most important to [their] citizens." She and Webb said typically the county looks to the Council of Governments (COG) to provide such a priority list.
"This is a first; this hasn't been done to COG and RTC. They were very surprised," Webb said. "I think it's taken TxDOT aback, too. They are reeling that we are actually taking control over these funds."
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