'Hallelujah Moment': Bailey Boswell Bridge Opens In Saginaw
SAGINAW, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Tarrant County is one of the fastest growing areas in the country.
The 2020 census showed a nearly 17% increase in population in a decade.
And with that, comes growing pains like more traffic.
On Tuesday, March 15, the city of Saginaw opened a long-awaited project to help alleviate some traffic congestion problems: the Bailey Boswell Bridge.
It goes over the intersection where North Saginaw Road meets Bailey Boswell Road.
Many are excited about the project being complete.
"So amazing," said Jennifer Whitworth who was the first to cross the bridge after winning a competition through Community Link, an organization with the mission to end hunger and with this competition, raise money for the local animal shelter.
Whitworth said she's excited for what this means for her.
"It will save us all a lot of time don't have to be stuck waiting for trains and the lights back up a lot, so it's going to make life a lot easier here," she said.
That's how a lot of people feel.
"I do delivery so it's hard sometimes with that train and you're just stuck and so it's going to be nice having the bridge for everybody to be crossing over it," said Saginaw resident Aimie Bryant.
The bridge is the last phase in a $48 million project ($12 million specifically for the bridge portion), which was thought about 15 years ago.
Voters approved the project back in 2012.
"Now with this bridge you can get to I-35 all the way to boat club road in just 15 minutes or less which you couldn't before, there was no easy way to get there so travel around here will be much easier," said Saginaw Mayor Todd Flippo.
Long-time residents tell CBS 11 News, every year traffic in the area gets worse.
"All the extra neighborhoods popping up around here. I wish they would really work on the infrastructure on the roads around it before they keep building more homes," said 20-year Saginaw resident Ryan Munkittrick.
Flippo said this east-west pipeline will help not only this city, but Tarrant County as more people move here.
"You got to stay ahead of it, it's not just us but the while region," said Flippo. "This area of Tarrant County is growing dramatically."
While the bridge is open now, there will be an official grand opening with a plaque of balloons in a couple weeks.