Summary: How will the new Parker County 2023 Transportation Bond affect Willow Park streets and highways... and taxes? Parker County citizens have the responsibility to vote on this bond in November. Find details, maps, presentations and updates.
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." James Madison, 4th US President and Founding Father
Latest Update: 29 December 2023 added The Community News article; 22 September 2023 added The Community News article; Wednesday, 16 August, 2023
Tags: #Streets #AreaGrowth
Parker County Transportation Bond and Willow Park Streets
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance;
and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves
with the power which knowledge gives."
James Madison, 4th US President and Founding Father
Parker County has outgrown its roads and highways. No surprise to anyone in Parker County who drives more than a mile from home.
Our Parker County Commissioners have started their information program to explain the necessity, benefits, projects, partnerships, and costs of a new Parker County Transportation bond of about $130M.
How will the new Parker County 2023 Transportation Bond affect Willow Park streets and highways... and taxes? Parker County citizens have the responsibility to vote on this bond in November 2023
Find details in the following presentations.
Note: Willow Park is in Parker County Ward 4.
• Specific project information
• Ward 4 Projects /
• 5.11 Intersection of FM5 and Bankhead
• Meeting events
Transportation Bond Journal
• Transportation bond, The Community News, 21 December 2023
In fact, the county has the designation of being the sixth fastest growing in the U.S.
Trying to keep pace, county commissioners called for a $130 million transportation bond to be placed on the November ballot. The bond, which voters passed by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin, includes a total of 35 projects that focus on enhancing I-20, FM 730, FM 1187 and several intersections.
Of the various projects, Naron said that the improvement of the east and west corridors, such as frontage roads that fully connect and the connection of Bankhead Highway [A portion of Bankhead Highway runs through Willow Park.], will be “vital” to complete prior to the expansion of I-20.
• During the 08 August 2023 Council Meeting, Agenda Item 1, Video. Transportation Bond presentation 5:00 and runs to 21:10, Parker County Officials made a presentation on the Parker County Transportation Bond, focusing on the road project that affect East Parker County and Willow Park. (Although not included in the meeting agenda packet, the county representatives used these graphics for their presentation, in .pdf .)
• added Friday, 22 September, 2023 [Weatherford ISD] Tustees [sic] receive transportation, construction updates, The Community News, 22 September 2023
• Residents get look at much lower tax rate, The Community News, 11 August 2023, County presents transportation bond information. Road Improvement Bond.
Parker County Judge Pat Deen and representatives from the Parker County Transportation Board gave a presentation to the council concerning a proposed bond election. It is expected that the Parker County Commissioners Court will call for a $130 million bond election on the ballot for the Nov. 7 election.
"If you've ever driven I-20 any day you'll be for this bond," Deen said.
If the bond is passed, county-wide road work will include a total of 35 projects:
Safety improvements, 12 projects.
New road extensions, 11 projects.
Road capacity widening, 8 projects.
Frontage roads/ramps, 4 projects.
The financial breakdown of the bond includes:
Precinct projects, $90 million.
Partnership projects, $25 million.
Discretionary, $15 million.
Statistics presented included:
Parker County grew by 34.1% between 2010-22.
Parker County is ranked No. 6 in the U.S. in fastest growth.
Parker county is currently growing at a rate of 4.8% per year.
An estimated 22 people move into the county every day.
The presentation also noted the bond's importance because local transportation funding will support growth; state and federal partnerships create more leverage for transportation improvement opportunities; regional partnerships will bring together the North Central Texas Council of Governments, municipalities and school districts; and it would expedite the safety projects in support of #EndTheStreakTX, a project designed to end the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways.
Parker County Transportation Department officials said if, as expected, the election is called, they will spend between now and the election date educating the public more on the bond project.
• Commissioner Jacob Holt Parker County Commissioner 2, Facebook, 3 August 2023 Parker County held elections for transportation bonds in 2008 and 2016. Given the recent growth, the County will hold another transportation bond election this November... The bond will have Partnership Projects and Precinct Projects as well as Discretionary funds. The bond is anticipated to be ~$130M in total. This is roughly in line with the 2008 and 2016 bond amounts when considering inflation and construction rate increases.
Partnership Projects: these involve TxDOT roads (think FM roads and the interstate) in which the county takes lead on engineering & ROW work in order to 1) move the projects up several years in the queue and 2) take advantage of available funds from TxDOT and NTCOG.
By taking lead, we get projects done years faster than waiting on TxDOT and we can take advantage of state funds at the same time. The best example of this is continuous frontage roads for those sections of I-20 such as at Dennis Road and RWMH. These frontage roads are a critical component of this bond and must be completed before TxDOT can expand I-20 and relieve the constant congestion.
We are waiting on final property tax numbers which we need before we can determine what the actual cost to each tax payer will be per year. That information should become available in the next few weeks.
I want to highlight one key item again: a significant portion of this bond will pay to construct the missing frontage/service roads along I-20. Without those roads, TxDOT will not start working on expanding the interstate… The frontage work will be at areas like the RWMH connection to I20 on the west side where there are not currently frontage roads that connect.
[More on projects in Precinct 2]