By Kase Wilbanks from kcbd.com
It’s a project Lubbock County officials said has been in the works for nearly two decades. Now, the public is getting a chance to comment on a proposal to widen Woodrow Road in southern Lubbock County from two lanes to a five-lane roadway from near Highway 87 to Slide Road.
“It’s the right thing to do to get public comment and to see the presentations and to understand that they’re taking a two-lane country road and going make it into a five-lane boulevard and not displace any homes or businesses,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill McCay said. “The engineering folks that are working on it right now are in that design. You can go to the Lubbock County website or TxDOT website and see the presentation and get a good understanding of how complex this 4.7 miles of roadway is, the drainage and the things to take in consideration to make it a better, safer road.”
Better, Safer Roads was the campaign in May of 2019, asking voters to approve a $99 million bond proposal to build or reconstruct roads across Lubbock County. Woodrow Road is the first major roadway in that plan to undergo its overhaul.
“We’re looking at an overall project of approximately $35 million,” County Judge Curtis Parrish said. “We’re looking at using approximately $24 million of [Metropolitan Planning Organization] money, or our state and federal funds, and then using approximately $12 million of bond money to accomplish the full completion of Woodrow Road.”
An online presentation on the project was published August 27 in lieu of an in-person public meeting. TxDOT and Lubbock County are asking citizens to review the proposal and provide feedback.
“We’ve got a lot of major intersections along Woodrow Road,” Parrish said. “A lot of the growth that’s going on in Lubbock County is happening at these major intersections. So, is this intersection as it’s being designed capable of handling the growth that we’re expecting out in that southern part of our county? The only way we’re going really going to know that is we’re going to need the input from the public, those that that that drive on that road every day.”
This is part of several steps that will be taken before construction is expected to start in the Spring of 2022.
“You’d like to just go out there and just start today,” McCay said. “But, it’s critical to have it surveyed and engineered and designed so that it’s a road that will not flood and will not cause flooding. It’ll be a safe route or safer road. The time it takes for the engineering design is about a year and a half. After the design is complete, then Lubbock County would go out to bid with general contractors. Lubbock County will then oversee the construction of the project and it’s actually going to be done in two phases. One phase begins with a Spring of 2022 the other would begin in the Fall of 2022.”
To review the Woodrow Road proposal, click here.
The following are instructions on submitting comments:
All comments must be received on or before Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Members of the public may call (806) 319-6148 and verbally provide comments. Written comments from the public regarding the proposed project are requested and may be submitted by mail to: Kimley-Horn, Attention: Sean Cudnoski, Project Manager, 4411 98th St., Suite 300, Lubbock, Texas 79424. Written comments may also be submitted by email to [email protected].