RESIDENTS LOOK AT HIGHWAY 36 IMPROVEMENT PLANS

  

OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT IN PDF FORMAT

About 30 local residents came to a public hearing from TxDOT on the proposed improvements to Highway 36 form Highway 290 to Business 36.  Chad Bohne, Director of Transportation Planning with the Bryan District, reviewed the plans for the 18 million dollar project.  He stated that once the design is set, the project would be bid in the summer of 2015 and construction beginning in the fall of that year.

The project would widen Highway 36 to four lanes from 290 to Business 36—a distance of one point two miles. Also proposed is replacing the existing bridge over the railroad, Little Sandy Creek, Benton Drive, and Lounge Road to bring it up to current design standards.  Two new bridges would be constructed for northbound and southbound traffic.  The proposed project would also include two frontage roads with an entrance and exit ramp west of the bridges and a U-turn under the bridge on the west side.

Several local elected officials expressed concerns during the public comment portion of the meeting. Brenham Mayor Milton Tate expressed concern over the limited amount of feeder road; that it may cut off development in the area.  County Commissioner Joy Fuchs said that there needed to be an access road on the north side to accommodate Premier Metals.  Currently, the plan shows just a public driveway on the north side.  Premier Metals owner Mike Brannon said there needed to be a feeder road on the north side and one on the south side also that would run to Dixie Street.

TxDOT’s Chad Bohne said that there was no plan to block future driveways from the undeveloped land along the project, but that land owners could apply for access to the highway if the land was developed.  He said one of the main goals of the project is to make this part of Highway 36 safer and that any driveways connecting to it would have to allow safe access.  An overview of the project is available here.