Southlake drivers detouring around town

Get used to the sight of orange barrels and construction equipment in Southlake.

The number of city road projects and Texas Department of Transportation roadwork are adding up in Southlake, with pothole repair, road closures and road reconstruction causing detours around town.

TxDOT’s Farm Road 1938 project continues with numerous lane closures and traffic switches. The construction project, near the intersection with Farm Road 1709, is expected to be completed in 2017.

The city of Southlake has encouraged drivers taking children to Florence Elementary School, located near the 1938 construction, to take alternate routes to avoid the roadwork.

One route is for Southlake drivers to take Florence Road to Pearson Lane, and then turn onto Johnson Road, Gray Lane or Jordan Drive to get to the school.

Pothole repair plan

In other road projects, Southlake Public Works crews have started repairing road damage that was caused by “extreme weather” this year.

Officials say the four ice storms in the winter, a rainy May and a hot summer combined with heavy traffic are blamed for many potholes and cracks in city streets.

Under the “Pothole Repair Plan,” crews will spot repair minor damage and in areas with more significant damage, crews will stabilize and/or mill and overlay in segments.

The first repair was made on Continental Boulevard, east of the Carroll roundabout, and future locations include Pearson Lane, Shady Oaks, North White Chapel Boulevard, North Carroll Avenue and Royal Oaks.

The pothole repair work is expected to take three months.

More projects in the works

Drivers in Southlake can expect delays and find alternate routes with the following road projects in the works:

• Texas Turnaround: The city has also closed the Texas Turnaround for construction of an acceleration lane onto the Texas 114 eastbound frontage road. The Texas Turnaround, which is east of the North Carroll Avenue Bridge at the intersection with Texas 114, is expected to re-open in early October.
• Brumlow Avenue: Construction recently began on Brumlow Avenue to widen the road to four lanes with a center dual turn lane from Texas 26 to the Alpine Materials driveway, 1900 Brumlow Ave.
• Texas 26: Crews will also make transition and capacity improvements around the Texas 26 interchange that ultimately intends to help the traffic flow. Drivers can expect delays and can plan to find alternate routes during this construction.

The South White Chapel Boulevard roadwork was recently completed, The project, which began in June, was a joint road reconstruction with Tarrant County to rehabilitate the road from the Continental Avenue roundabout to the Colleyville city line.

Also, a road widening project on Top Rail Lane at Farm Road 1938 was originally scheduled for earlier this summer but has been postponed by the contractor.

Residents can contact the Public Works Department at 817-748-8098 with questions.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Southlake drivers detouring around town."