Published: March 21, 2008 11:19 am            

Fuse lit for countywide bond election

Engineering firms compete for transportation contract

Galen Scott

gscott@weatherforddemocrat.com

Parker County Commissioners started interviewing engineering firms Wednesday, marking the beginning of a countywide transportation bond campaign.

Based on hypothetical numbers discussed at various stages of the court’s deliberation process, the county will likely ask voters in November to approve somewhere between $40 and $60 million for county road construction and improvements.

In addition, the county is hoping to leverage bond proceeds with a $10 million commitment from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. A portion the $10 million is expected to pay for engineering services discussed Wednesday.

The county’s most egregious traffic problems were identified in a $350,000 transportation study commissioned four years ago. However, since the study was paid for and presented in June 2006, existing bottlenecks have worsened and new traffic jams have developed.

On Wednesday, Houston-based Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation pledged to identify the county’s top transportation priorities in as little as four months, with construction starting in January 2009, provided they win the contract and voters approve the tax increase.

In order to do so, Mark Lorance, head of Dannenbaum’s Dallas office, said independent roadway analysis could be conducted, or his engineers could take direction from commissioners themselves.

For more on this and other stories, see Friday's Democrat - Weatherford delivered to your door. To subscribe, call (817) 594-7447.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.