Posted 6:13 pm Saturday, December 26, 2009
Tyler's Road To The Future
By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer
Mobility planning takes decades and dreamers. It takes vision and time to build infrastructure that will serve the masses for decades and lifetimes to come.
Staff Writer
Mobility planning takes decades and dreamers. It takes vision and time to build infrastructure that will serve the masses for decades and lifetimes to come.
It took more than 30 years of passion, posturing and planning before the first shovel turned dirt on the Toll 49, outer loop project. It may take another 30 to complete it fully.
Despite budget crunches, landowner opposition and other setbacks, eight miles of Toll 49 are complete and eight miles are under or nearing construction.
North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority Chairman Jeff Austin III said many people and organizations -- including the city, county, economic development and planning boards -- as well as cities, such as Lindale and Whitehouse, have participated in bringing the project to fruition to support the area's mobility needs well into the future.
For the city of Tyler, expanding, and adding, east-west roadways to ease congestion on Broadway Avenue and Loop 323 have been a long-time focus.
With more than 270,000 daily drivers using Tyler infrastructure and an estimated 400,000 during peak times, such as during the holidays, making east-west connections and addressing traffic congestion is the No. 1 priority for infrastructure planners, City Manager Mark McDaniel said.
Austin agrees.
"Tyler is a regional for medical, education, jobs (and) national retail outlets, not to mention an airport, so people are coming in and out and wanting to get around and through Tyler," Austin said. "The population is increasing and I think the stars aligned and the (Metropolitan Planning Organization), the city, the county and the chamber all came together early and said mobility is our No. 1 priority."
"Tyler is a regional for medical, education, jobs (and) national retail outlets, not to mention an airport, so people are coming in and out and wanting to get around and through Tyler," Austin said. "The population is increasing and I think the stars aligned and the (Metropolitan Planning Organization), the city, the county and the chamber all came together early and said mobility is our No. 1 priority."
McDaniel said the city has been going through the growing pains of becoming a more urban hub for a rural region but that infrastructure planners have been working to preserve the "small town" quality of life by planning ahead.
TOLL 49
The city and county pledged $1.6 million, a 10 percent local match of the initial $16 million construction cost for the project. Austin said there was buy-in on the project within government circles but also in the public. An opposition group, Citizens Opposed to the Outer Loop (COOL) formed in 1999 to address homeowner and environmental concerns as well as to question whether an outer loop would alleviate safety and traffic congestion concerns. Members Dr. Lynn Morrow and former County Commissioner Sharon Emmert maintain that the project was a forgone conclusion and that Toll 49 has not provided relief for area motorists.
"The bottom line is the traffic on (Toll 49) clearly proves what we knew to be the case, that the project would not be able to relieve traffic on Loop 323," Ms. Emmert said. "Furthermore, it proves what we were trying to explain, that the Grande Boulevard project and other east-west projects were far more important to relieving traffic."
Austin said the perception of some residents that the project is producing "a road to nowhere" may be misinformed about the current state of the project and its future.
Segments 1 and 2 are complete and record around 4,800 transactions a day, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The toll road is generating between $550,000 and $625,000 per year based on transaction activity, said TxDOT spokesman Larry Krantz. Segment 3A, which will expand the loop from U.S. Highway 155 to Texas Highway 31, is under construction and expected to be completed by spring 2013.
Toll 49 Segment 5, from Paluxy Drive to Texas Highway 110, will go through the "letting," or bidding process, soon, Austin said. The project was slated to be let two years ago, but was delayed because of reduced funding, he said. But after the Texas Legislature moved forward with funding, the shovel-ready project qualified for $38 million in stimulus funding because of advanced planning, he said. The Tyler Metropolitan Planning Organization allocated $5 million to the project.
Austin said planners are moving quickly on projects now because construction costs have reduced amid a slowing economy. Recent estimates for the Segment 3A were $52 million to $57 million but the contract came in at $37 million due to the economy, which means local savings, Austin said. Projects, either completed or shovel ready, have cost about $80 million.
The completion of Segments 3A and 5 would double the project's length, Krantz said. Historically, when an additional section is completed, daily transactions double, said Krantz.
The NETRMA has been discussing funding for the Toll 49 Segment 3B, which will connect the toll road from Texas Highway 31 to Interstate 20.
Austin said once the toll road connects to the interstate, he expects use and revenues to escalate and create funding opportunities for the rest of the project.
"Then it becomes a real project (when it reaches I-20), the road to somewhere," he said.
Krantz said estimating the impact of tying into I-20 is difficult but he expects it to be positive for the project's future. Ms. Emmert said it remains to be seen whether the project will have the positive impact on relieving congestion in the city.
In the next two to three years, the area could see a complete section of the toll road open from Texas Highway 110 to I-20, Austin said. The loop will be constructed as a two-lane road but more lanes could be added if the toll road is traveled by 10,000 or more cars per day, he added.
Austin said it is important to keep Toll 49 projects moving forward and future segments in the planning stages.
All revenues generated from the toll fees will stay dedicated to the loop project, including expanding, maintaining and operating it, he said. He said toll revenues will be used as leverage to raise money, through bonds or other means, to construct more roads locally.
IN THE CITY
McDaniel said updating the city's Master Street Plan in 2005 was critical for the city's future and preserving corridors for road expansion and new construction. He said having long-term plans for corridors ensures efficient construction that can keep costs and problems to a minimum.
One example is the largest city sponsored road construction project to date: Grande Boulevard. McDaniel said the city could have avoided added costs and delays associated with moving gas and electric utilities and upsetting neighborhoods by defining those corridors and gaining right-of-way for future projects throughout the city's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ).
"Planning is one of those things where (a project) can be so far out that it's hard for people today to see how relevant it might be 10 or 20 years from now," he said.
Planning has been better in the past five to 10 years, he said.
McDaniel said the No. 1 priority for residents and therefore the city is relieving traffic congestion. The Grande Boulevard project, which extended and widened the roadway, will address that need, he said.
In the next five years, around $35 million will go toward east-west routes inside the loop, including projects on Sunnybrook Drive, Towne Park Drive and Lake Placid Road. McDaniel acknowledged that a $13 million to $14 million cash flow expected to be generated by the tax can be eaten up by projects such as Sunnybrook, which is estimated at around $20 million. However, he said construction costs have been driven down and the city will attempt to fast-track projects while savings are available.
McDaniel said those investments will pay dividends for mobility.
Grande Boulevard (from Broadway to Paluxy Drive) traffic counts have eclipsed 10,000 vehicles daily in its first month open.
"That's 10,000 vehicles that are not on the Loop or Shiloh," he said. "When we get over to (State Highway) 110, that figure will double because lots of traffic from Whitehouse will be able to access (lower Broadway)."
The Tyler 21 Plan, McDaniel said, also identified ways the city could improve traffic flow by adding turn lanes and new signaling equipment.
Addressing an antiquated signalization system was also a priority and projects have provided results, according to McDaniel. A before-and-after analysis of newly installed adaptive signalization on South Broadway Avenue showed a 57 percent reduction in delays on average, he said. He said travel time from one end of Broadway to the other was reduced by 16 percent, he said. Data regarding flashing-yellow signals has also shown that drivers "can move around a lot better," but that the city continues to monitor signaling to make sure they are not negatively impacting movement and safety.
The city recently received a more than $1 million efficiency grant to update downtown signalization.
McDaniel said planning and cooperation with community organizations such as the Metropolitan Planning Organization has been an instrumental part of addressing Tyler's importance regionally. He said officials are addressing the projected needs of the city and area into the next 50 years.
Austin said priorities must be identified for today, tomorrow and for future generations and consensus must be built behind those priorities. He said the city has done a great job addressing long-term planning and that the different entities involved in addressing infrastructure needs have worked diligently to create solutions. He said residents can expect economic development, planning organizations, local officials and residents to build consensus on what is needed for the area to sustain growth well into the future.
"We hope to facilitate and help participate in finding ways to build what is needed and supported locally," Austin said.
Casey Murphy contributed to this report.
