https://www.wacotrib.com/news/government/chapel-road-due-for-major-upgrade-amid-development-growth/article_9587953f-91e7-5608-87cb-5acd75d6828f.html
Chapel Road and Ritchie Road have become linchpins in the continued residential development of Hewitt, West Waco and Lorena, an area where national-name builders D.R. Horton and Stylecraft already have dibs on a 1,500-home subdivision called Park Meadows and more builders are poised for action. Nearly 3,000 new homes could take shape within the next decade.
Completion of the project stretching from Ritchie to Old Lorena Road remains four years away, probably in 2023, but at least it can be seen from here, County Engineer Zane Dunnam said.
The stretch will still have one lane in each direction, and a center left-turn lane and shoulders on each side will be added for an estimated $8.8 million, Dunnam said.
The Chapel Road upgrade is the fourth in a bond package that also includes widening Ritchie Road from Park Place Drive to near Panther Way; rebuilding a four-mile stretch of Speegleville Road from State Highway 6 to the Bosque River; and widening Surrey Ridge Lane from I-35 to Moonlight Drive.
"Chapel Road and Ritchie Road are just going to get busier," said Scott Bland, whose family has been building homes in Central Texas for decades. "How many homes will be built in the next five years, that's hard to say. Will the economy stay the way it is now, or will it slow down? I would have to give it a lot more thought. I would say that by next summer, there is going to be plenty of places to build. A lot of subdivisions are in the works. Highway 84, Chapel Road, Ritchie Road, those areas are just exploding. We're also seeing growth in McGregor and Lorena. It's not going to slow down."
Besides D.R. Horton and Stylecraft going up with homes, Fred Dewald and Richard Clark have launched the Creekside subdivision that could include up to 900 homes built over the next decade. Contractor Ryan Lindsey, meanwhile, has proposed a subdivision with up to 300 homes.
The Waco City Council this week gave preliminary approval for a development with almost 400 homes on fewer than 40 acres on Chapel Road near Woodgate Intermediate School. Developer Nate Landreth proposes a Planned Unit Development next to the Flats on Chapel Apartments. City officials and Landreth said the proposed density would be reduced before final approval.
Chapel Road and Ritchie Road have become linchpins in the continued residential development of Hewitt, West Waco and Lorena, an area where national-name builders D.R. Horton and Stylecraft already have dibs on a 1,500-home subdivision called Park Meadows and more builders are poised for action. Nearly 3,000 new homes could take shape within the next decade.
Completion of the project stretching from Ritchie to Old Lorena Road remains four years away, probably in 2023, but at least it can be seen from here, County Engineer Zane Dunnam said.
The stretch will still have one lane in each direction, and a center left-turn lane and shoulders on each side will be added for an estimated $8.8 million, Dunnam said.
The Chapel Road upgrade is the fourth in a bond package that also includes widening Ritchie Road from Park Place Drive to near Panther Way; rebuilding a four-mile stretch of Speegleville Road from State Highway 6 to the Bosque River; and widening Surrey Ridge Lane from I-35 to Moonlight Drive.
"Chapel Road and Ritchie Road are just going to get busier," said Scott Bland, whose family has been building homes in Central Texas for decades. "How many homes will be built in the next five years, that's hard to say. Will the economy stay the way it is now, or will it slow down? I would have to give it a lot more thought. I would say that by next summer, there is going to be plenty of places to build. A lot of subdivisions are in the works. Highway 84, Chapel Road, Ritchie Road, those areas are just exploding. We're also seeing growth in McGregor and Lorena. It's not going to slow down."
Besides D.R. Horton and Stylecraft going up with homes, Fred Dewald and Richard Clark have launched the Creekside subdivision that could include up to 900 homes built over the next decade. Contractor Ryan Lindsey, meanwhile, has proposed a subdivision with up to 300 homes.
The Waco City Council this week gave preliminary approval for a development with almost 400 homes on fewer than 40 acres on Chapel Road near Woodgate Intermediate School. Developer Nate Landreth proposes a Planned Unit Development next to the Flats on Chapel Apartments. City officials and Landreth said the proposed density would be reduced before final approval.
