Big changes are coming to the roadways in and around Westlake in the next few months. Several projects may impact your commute but in the long run, will help to ease your drive in the future. The first being repairs to Solana Boulevard. There were sections of the road where the concrete was buckling so those panels needed to be replaced.
The next project will be to resurface Roanoke Road from the Town border north to 170. That’s expected to begin in late spring/early summer. Resurfacing will also occur on J.T. Ottinger Road from the Dove Road intersection south to Town border. The stretch in front of Westlake Academy will not be impacted. Finally, resurfacing will be done along Pearson Lane from the Town border north to Dove Road. Both projects are scheduled to begin in early summer.
These road projects are all found within the Town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) approved through our budget process. Westlake is partnering with the county, a very cost-effective approach, who provides the labor, with the Town providing the materials. Our CIP helps plan projects based on the age and condition of roadways. Town staff forecasts when a particular road will be at the age repairs are needed, then they assess the roads several years prior to that date to see if the repairs are truly needed. If not, they push the project to a later date, but in these cases, it was the appropriate time for each of the roads to be repaired.
“This year’s CIP was funded with cash; no bonds were needed. It’s time to reinvest in the roads due to the age and condition. This investment will ensure the quality of our roadways in Westlake for years to come”, says Debbie Piper, Westlake Director of Finance.
There are several other projects that are also set to begin soon but will be controlled by TxDOT. The first being this fall with the State Highway 114 frontage roads that will connect the existing frontage roads from Davis Boulevard to Dove Road. There will be Texas U-turns added at Solana Boulevard which will run under the overpass.
Other projects include the construction of the HWY 170 main lanes beginning in August 2020 starting at I-35W moving east toward Parish Lane in Westlake and Roanoke with Texas U-turns added at HWY 377 and at Schwab Way. As a side note, another regional TXDOT project will include the I-35W expansion of the main lanes from HWY 287 north to Eagle PKWY scheduled to start in the fall of 2020.
And the third project in Westlake will extend Parish Lane on the north side of HWY 170 into Roanoke. This venture is a Hillwood managed project and will start in August 2020. Staff is reviewing the plan for this project now.