Feds Chipping In To Help Fund Major Highway Improvements Through Haslet
HASLET, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Haslet is getting an infrastructure overhaul meant to help ease traffic and better connect commuters and commercial drivers to I-35W and US-287.
Tuesday the Transportation Secretary announced the federal government is chipping in $20 million to help.
When completed the new four-lane divided thoroughfare called Haslet Parkway is expected to run from I-35W at SH 170 to FM 156 at Avondale-Haslet Road.
From there, Avondale Haslet Road will widen from two to four lanes to the city's western boundary.
Finally, the Intermodal Parkway will be extended as a four-lane road south to the new Haslet Parkway.
"Everybody knows time is money," Clark Hicks said.
Hicks owns a trucking company, Hicks Logistics Solutions, LLC.
His trucks, like countless others, converge on what is commonly referred to as the "Inland Port" in Haslet to pick up freight from planes and trains. This leaves everyday drivers sharing surface roads with commercial trucks. He believes this project will be good for business and the population as a whole.
"So the less time you spend sitting in traffic, the more products your getting moved, the quicker people are getting to and from work, more home time for them with their families."
According to the city's mayor, the total cost of the project is going to be about $59 million. To help pay for it, the city will use half of all tax revenue generated from future development adjacent to the new and expanding roads. Council of Governments is also expected to provide a contribution. The mayor said there will be no tolls or new taxes on residents.
The federal government announced the recipients of whats called a BUILD grant from Washington, D.C. earlier Tuesday.
"It's really just going to help traffic flow better throughout the entire area moving into and out of alliance airport," Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director James Bass said.
Plans for the project are still being ironed out, according to city officials. Construction is not expected begin until the first quarter of 2021.