Bond money at work

July 07, 2009 11:18 am

— WEATHERFORD — Parker County Precinct 2 Commissioner Joe Brinkley has already put Parker County Transportation Bond money to work with major road work being completed on two county roads in his precinct.
The two roads being worked on, Broken and Jordan roads, were the two remaining roads in Precinct 2 that had not been paved.
Funds to do the projects came from the commissioners’ discretionary bond money. As part of the November 2008 Transportation Bond that received overwhelming approval from Parker County voters, each county precinct received $1 million for discretionary road projects, in addition to the more than 30 major projects that were part of the bond.
Brinkley said he was pleased to be able to get started on Precinct 2 road improvements so quickly and the work done will be beneficial to his constituents.
“These two roads provide additional access in the northwest part of Parker County for school buses, law enforcement, fire departments and the postal service and for the general public,” he said.
The work consisted of the complete construction of a road bed, bar ditches and paving for a one mile extension of Jordan Road, and included the construction of a new bridge on the road.
Work on Broken Road consisted of the reconstruction of the road bed, bar ditches and paving of three miles of the roadway.
Broken Road runs north for three miles from Lone Star Road and connects to DPS Tower Road at the Parker and Jack County line.
Jordan Road runs east and west from Leech Road and connects to Broken Road just south of the Parker and Jack County line.
Parker County Judge Mark Riley said he was impressed with Commissioner Brinkley’s quick work as with the other Parker County commissioners.
“I said all along that we intended to be able to make road improvements within the first year and that is what we have done with this and many other projects that are in the works,” Riley said. “Transportation projects take time and we have spent many years in the planning stages. With the public’s passing of this bond, those years of planning have paid off in that we have been able to get the improvements started almost immediately.”
The Parker County Commissioners Court placed a proposition on the Nov. 4 ballot in 2008, for public approval to issue up to $80 million in public bonds for the purpose of construction, improvement, expansion and upgrading of roads, intersections and bridges within Parker County.
This program will help meet current transportation infrastructure needs across Parker County through the rapid delivery of strategically significant transportation projects.
The population in Parker County has been growing at a rate of more than 20 percent annually for many years, and the county roads have been subject to heavier than anticipated truck traffic over the last few years. These two factors have combined to cause a rapidly increasing need to improve transportation conditions throughout the county. Parker County is taking aggressive action to improve the transportation infrastructure through the implementation of the bond program.
Parker County officially accepted the first installment of bond funding for $60 Million May 4. The designs of several projects were expedited so the bidding phase could begin the week of May 10, which was accomplished. As requested by the public prior to the election, the county is planning to aggressively execute the design and construction of all the approved projects in accordance with the master program schedule. 
For more information on the Parker County Transportation Bond, visit www.parkercountytransportationbond.com

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