From The President's Desk

Rusty Fuller

Golden Triangle Project

by Vicki Truitt on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 7:04pm ·

To interested individuals,

Rusty Fuller with the North Fort Worth Alliance and I met with the Texas Health people on Monday, 2/28. As a result of that meeting, I called another meeting which was held last Friday, 3/3. Tarrant County Commissioner Fickes and I met with representatives from TxDOT, the contractors, the City of Fort Worth, and the hospital.

I explained how I frequently hear from constituents from one end of Golden Triangle to the other, both private citizens and businesses, who welcome the road construction, but are frustrated with the progress. I told them that when I heard how much extra expense the hospital was going to have to pay because of the delay in the road construction, that it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and that's why I called the for the meeting. Commissioner Fickes' message echoed mine.

What ensued was a good dialogue. (It's amazing what happens when people communicate!) They quickly identified some options that would allow Texas Health to save some of the unnecessary expense. We talked about the schedule, the signal lights, etc. You may have noticed that temporary signal lights have been installed at some of the intersections. Those should be operational by 3/1. The one at Old Denton and Golden Triangle is a little behind the others because of the intersection configuration, but should follow the others within a week or two. I believe they said that traffic would be switched from the south side of the road to the (new) north side of the road on or around 3/1, so that work could begin on the south side. There are some utilities to be relocated on the south side, but until they get into the construction, they are uncertain precisely which ones (because of the hodge-podge way utilities were installed when this was unincorporated area).

The project isn't likely to be complete until December, 2012, but the Commissioner and I emphasized the need for expediency. I was pleased with the way communication seemed to take off, and when I left, the contractors, TxDOT, and city were huddled together discussing better ways of doing things.

Another good thing that came from this meeting is that beginning this week, TxDOT is supposed to send a weekly status report to all key parties regarding the project's progress and schedule. One person remarked during the meeting that every entity's website seems to list different information. Perhaps this weekly update will enable local citizens to get more accurate, up-to-date information about the project.

Thanks, again to Commissioner Fickes and Rusty for joining me at the meetings last week!

Greetings and Happy New Year,

The North Fort Worth Alliance is accepting applications for the Executive Board position of Secretary.  Our current secretary has had to resign as he has moved out of our area. 

This is a great opportunity.  We would like to open this opportunity to existing members and those of you who have recently joined us, allowing you to become involved in the leadership of the NFWA.

The Secretary, as a member of the Executive Board, participates in discussions pertaining to the direction of the Alliance, developing strategies and positions on issues before the Alliance, and problem solving.  The Secretary’s  responsibility is to take notes at our monthly meeting and transcribe them so they can be posted by our webmaster on our website and Facebook page.  The person has to live in the current NFWA boundaries of 35W on the west (including Sendera Ranch), 377 on the east, 170 on the north and North Tarrant Parkway on the south.  The time commitment is about three to five hours a month including the meeting.

The NFWA is an effective voice for the people in our area.  We now have the opportunity to bring more and better information on community issues and focus on additional areas of concern.  Please become a part of this growing and influential group of concerned citizens.

If you have questions or would like to volunteer for the position, please drop an email to president@north-fortworth-alliance.com.   Please include a telephone number we can use to chat with you.

 

Sincerely,

Rusty Fuller

President


 

 

Here are my notes from the 35W Public Hearing on Thursday 12/15:

The project this hearing covered is what we know as 35W Project B.  It runs from connecting to 820 north to US 287.  (Projects 35W A from IH 30 to 820 and 35W C from US 287 to 114 are not yet funded.  The priority is to get Project A funded and started as soon as possible.) 

Project B is slated to be let for bid with construction starting in January 2013.  Construction is expected to take 39 months (2 ¼ years).

The project design looks like this:

Frontage Roads will be continuous two lanes with additional width for a shared lane for bicycles.  Sidewalks will be constructed along the Frontage Roads and Cross Streets as will accommodations for bicycles. (The southbound Frontage Road will be discontinuous at US 81/US 287.)

From 820 to Basswood Blvd, there will be four northbound and four southbound general use lanes and three northbound and three southbound managed lanes.

From Basswood Blvd to the 287 interchange, the four north- and southbound lanes will continue, while the managed lanes will decrease from three to two.

Project 35W C:  From the 287 interchange to Eagle Parkway, there will be three north- and southbound lanes and two north- and southbound managed lanes.

Toll on Managed Lanes: Current plans are for the tolls on the managed lanes to vary to keep traffic moving at a minimum speed of 50 mph.   During the first six months of operation, there will be a fixed rate phase with a rate up to $0.75 per mile.  Market-based tolls will be applied after the fixed rate phase. 

Single-occupant vehicles will pay full rate.  Trucks will pay a higher rate; while HOV2+ vehicles will receive a 50% discount. (There is a consideration to change that from HOV2+ to HOV3+ vehicles eligible for the discount.) 

There would be rebates for travelers should the average speed fall below 35 mph and the average speed reductions is not out of control of the Operator. (Whether to refund those rebates to travelers or place them in a fund for future benefit to travelers in the corridor has not been determined.)   TX DOT, NTTA and Houston Area EX tags will be accepted.

I have requested a copy of a video rendering of the project and hopefully will have it for our February 18, 2012 meeting when we will have people from the 35W Coalition to speak.

It is important that you plan to attend that meeting to learn how we as an organization and you as individuals can influence political leaders to acquire the funds to complete Projects A and C.  The obvious reason is that, as you can see, the completion of Project B will not have too much effect on the congestion at 35W and 820 for southbound traffic headed for Fort Worth (six lanes down to two).