https://www.wacotrib.com/news/government/city-s-transportation-would-transform-business-extend-i--timeline/article_cd21cb53-d063-5a5c-ae67-c60a4743ac9c.html
The plan recommends traffic signals, streetlights and refuge islands on Loop 340 near La Vega High School.
The draft also proposes a pedestrian overpass over Interstate 35 near the Bellmead Walmart. To meet ADA requirements, the project may include elevators at the intersection, because space won't allow for ramps.
The plan includes significant changes to the schedule for roadwork on Interstate 35. Reconstructing the I-35 section that runs from south of 12th Street to Highway 6 has been marked lower priority by TxDOT and won't start until 2030. Evilia said prolonging the project will likely cost more in the end.
"It's still probably the most important mobility priority on our region, although we're identifying the mall-to-mall project as number one now," Evilia said, referring to the reconstruction of Loop 340 between Highway 84 and Interstate 35.
Instead, the plan broke out smaller projects along that stretch of I-35.
Based on TxDOT recommendations, the plan proposes to replace bridges at New Road, realign ramps and add auxillary lanes between Valley Mills Drive and New Road to move some of the congestion off the main lanes. Altogether, the project will cost about $40 million. TxDOT also recommended reconstructing the Valley Mills Drive interchange at I-35.
Freight rail lines are reaching capacity, which will likely mean more freight passing through Waco as a result.
The plan would add shoulders to bridges along those highways or raise them to accommodate the new 18-foot TxDOT standard for vertical clearance.
A $12 million project would convert Business 77, an underutilized corridor with structural problems, into a boulevard with wider lanes, slower speeds and bike and pedestrian paths. Evilia said one of the bridges at Potts Interchange, a much-despised intersection of Business 77 and Highway 84, is now considered structurally deficient. The plan calls for replacing the interchange with an at-grade intersection.
Evilia said the MPO also flagged safety concerns along Highway 6 near Sanger Avenue, where pedestrians attempt to cross the main lanes to reach Ascension Providence Hospital. Evilia said planners are considering a walkway across the Sanger Avenue overpass.
The plan recommends traffic signals, streetlights and refuge islands on Loop 340 near La Vega High School.
The draft also proposes a pedestrian overpass over Interstate 35 near the Bellmead Walmart. To meet ADA requirements, the project may include elevators at the intersection, because space won't allow for ramps.
The plan includes significant changes to the schedule for roadwork on Interstate 35. Reconstructing the I-35 section that runs from south of 12th Street to Highway 6 has been marked lower priority by TxDOT and won't start until 2030. Evilia said prolonging the project will likely cost more in the end.
"It's still probably the most important mobility priority on our region, although we're identifying the mall-to-mall project as number one now," Evilia said, referring to the reconstruction of Loop 340 between Highway 84 and Interstate 35.
Instead, the plan broke out smaller projects along that stretch of I-35.
Based on TxDOT recommendations, the plan proposes to replace bridges at New Road, realign ramps and add auxillary lanes between Valley Mills Drive and New Road to move some of the congestion off the main lanes. Altogether, the project will cost about $40 million. TxDOT also recommended reconstructing the Valley Mills Drive interchange at I-35.
Freight rail lines are reaching capacity, which will likely mean more freight passing through Waco as a result.
The plan would add shoulders to bridges along those highways or raise them to accommodate the new 18-foot TxDOT standard for vertical clearance.
A $12 million project would convert Business 77, an underutilized corridor with structural problems, into a boulevard with wider lanes, slower speeds and bike and pedestrian paths. Evilia said one of the bridges at Potts Interchange, a much-despised intersection of Business 77 and Highway 84, is now considered structurally deficient. The plan calls for replacing the interchange with an at-grade intersection.
Evilia said the MPO also flagged safety concerns along Highway 6 near Sanger Avenue, where pedestrians attempt to cross the main lanes to reach Ascension Providence Hospital. Evilia said planners are considering a walkway across the Sanger Avenue overpass.
