Colleyville to expand Texas 26 to six lanes

The ever-changing plans for Texas 26 have taken one more turn.

The Colleyville City Council voted Tuesday night to expand the city’s main thoroughfare, also known as Colleyville Boulevard, to six lanes from John McCain Road to Brown Trail, a move applauded by business owners.

The original plans called for expanding the road to four lanes with a median, then adding two more lanes when traffic counts deemed it necessary — in 20 years, by some projections. But council members voted to go ahead and fund the full project, with the help of partners, now instead of later.

“This will make everybody in the city happy once it is complete,” said Trip Buchwald, who owns a State Farm Insurance office and a shaved-ice business along the road.

Under the reconstruction plan, proposed by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Colleyville would contribute $715,000 in redesign plans and $1 million in construction fees. Tarrant County would pony up $1 million. And the remaining estimated cost of $3.7 million would be funded through the council of governments.

City Manager Jennifer Fadden said Colleyville would allocate funds from its tax increment financing district to pay for the road work.

Fadden said the first steps would be to draft a redesign, which could take 90 days. She said construction could start in late fall or early 2016 and is expected to last 30 months.

Councilman Chris Putnam said completing the project in one phase is the right thing to do for businesses and drivers.

“If we’re going to put our businesses through 21/2 years of construction, if were going to do it, it needs to be … future-proofed so we never have to put our businesses through that again,” Putnam said.

Fadden said the city has plans to help businesses and act as an additional marketing and advertising arm during the road work.

Although he voted in favor, Mayor David Kelly expressed concerns about having a six-lane road that’s not supported by traffic counts. He said a large road could diminish the city’s rural atmosphere.

“I just want to make sure it’s Colleyville Boulevard and not Colleyville Highway,” he said.

The project, which is managed by the Texas Department of Transportation, has had a rocky beginning in Colleyville. Construction of a section from Pool Road/Brumlow Avenue to John McCain Road has taken longer than expected after several delays. It’s now on schedule to be mostly completed in March, city officials said.

Business owners have complained that the project has hurt their profits.

Tom Aikens, who owns NEXT Wood Fired Bistro with his wife, has said customers have told him it’s too much of a hassle to get to his restaurant because of the construction. But he called Tuesday night’s decision “a victory for Colleyville.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Colleyville to expand Texas 26 to six lanes."