SPI Insights

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) has been awarded an $8.78 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for work on seven existing bridges. NCTCOG serves a 16-county region of North Central Texas, which is centered on Dallas and Fort Worth.

NCTCOG will use funds from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant to replace these existing bridges:

• Loop 12 northbound over Interstate Highway 35E southbound – Dallas County
• IH 35W northbound over Interstate Highway 35W southbound Alvarado Exit – Johnson County (complete removal)
• U.S. 80 eastbound over the East Fork Trinity River – Kaufman County
• FM 460 over US 80 – Kaufman County
• U.S. 180 over Dry Creek – Parker County
• U.S. 287 southbound over Lancaster Avenue – Tarrant County
• U.S. 287 northbound over Carey Street – Tarrant County

Jeff Neal, NCTCOG program manager, said each of the bridges is identified as being in poor condition or having an obsolete function or design. In some cases, the bridges will be replaced with additional vehicle capacity.

The projects also will implement dynamic signalizing, signal prioritization, and other Intelligent Transportation Systems strategies to reduce congestion and back-up on several of the bridge locations.

INFRA grants provide funding to projects that address critical issues facing the nation’s highways and bridges. Approximately $856 million in grants will be awarded this year. Neal said the council would receive the grant funds by September 2021 at the latest.