Plans to extend Texas 121 from Fort Worth to Cleburne remain largely on schedule, officials from the Texas Department of Transportation and North Texas Tollway Authority told members of the Johnson County Commissioners Court on Monday.
Commissioner John Matthews asked officials representing various transportation agencies to update the commissioners court on the project’s progress.
“It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of Texas 121 to our area, but it’s a dynamic process, and I think it’s important that local officials get updates on a regular basis,” Matthews said. “We’re going to try to arrange to have various officials in to have a briefing every month at the commissioners court meetings.”
The toll road will be called Southwest Parkway in Tarrant County and Chisholm Trail Parkway in Johnson County. Plans call for a four-lane, divided highway that will intersect U.S. 67 in Cleburne. Design work and right-of-way acquisition on both components of the project is largely complete, officials said.
Earlier this year, federal stimulus money was allocated to fund interchanges in Fort Worth and Cleburne for the project.
Work on the Fort Worth interchange is expected to begin in September or October.
A start date on the Cleburne interchange remains to be determined, said Maribel Chavez, TxDOT district engineer.
Officials are waiting to receive approval to construct the interchange and make needed safety improvements to U.S. 67, Chavez said.
An agreement on a crossing easement with Fort Worth and Western Railroad is also still in the works, Chavez said.
Officials hope to bid and begin construction on the Cleburne interchange and U.S. 67 improvement part of the project this year, Chavez said.
“We’d like to get to letting the projects as soon as possible because bids have been coming in 25 to 30 percent under lately,” Chavez said.
Officials estimated the cost of the entire Texas 121 project at $1.8 billion and gave a targeted completion date of 2012 or 2013.
County Road 318
At the request of Keene officials, commissioners voted to turn maintenance of seven-tenths of a mile of County Road 318 over to the city.
Keene officials received a grant to widen and rebuild the road, which is near the Keene Industrial Park.
Officials later learned that the street lies outside Keene city limits.
Commissioners voted to allow Keene to assume maintenance of the affected portion of CR 318 because there in not enough time for the city to annex the portion before construction work is scheduled to begin.
Burn ban lifted
A week after enacting a burn ban because of dry conditions and reported grass fires, commissioners rescinded the ban, temporarily at least.
With more rain in the forecast, Commissioner Matthews suggested lifting the ban, which prohibits most outdoor burning in unincorporated county areas, for the immediate future.
Commissioners agreed but promised to monitor the situation and re-enact the ban if necessary.
Cleburne
Texas 121 expansion on track
- Cleburne
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First team offense, defense features host of area standouts
The 2011 Lone Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Autoplex All-Johnson-County football team has been announced. The team was chosen by the Times-Review sports department based on all-district selections and coaches’ nominations.
The first-team offense included Alvarado quarterback Kenny West and Burleson quarterback Barrett Cain. -
Cleburne, Grandview, Burleson lead second team offense, defense
The 2011 Lone Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Autoplex All-Johnson-County football team has been announced. The team was chosen by the Times-Review sports department based on all-district selections and coaches’ nominations.
The second-team offense was led by Cleburne’s Quade Coward and Godley’s Rhett Brawner as the second-team quarterbacks. -
Cleburne pulls away from Burleson, 62-48
The Cleburne Yellow Jackets beat Burleson, 62-48, on Friday night at Yellow Jacket Gym to move to 2-7 in District 7-A play. Burleson fell to 2-7 in league play with the loss.
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Lady Jackets pick up first District 7-4A win
On Friday night at Yellow Jacket Stadium, Cleburne picked up its first win of the District 7-4A season, 66-60, over Burleson, which fell to 3-8.
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Up-and-down Yellow Jackets split Friday’s matches at Little Elm Tourney
Both Cleburne soccer teams had mixed results on Friday in their respective tournaments.
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Tuesday marks property tax payment deadline
Johnson County Tax Assessor Scott Porter said that Tuesday is the deadline to pay 2011 property taxes without penalties or interest.
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Lady Jackets setting the bar high in powerlifting
Last week at the Venus powerlifting meet, the Cleburne Lady Jackets sent several lifters to the competition.
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Cleburne ready for district swim meet
Both Cleburne swim teams are headed to the Mansfield ISD Natatorium on Saturday for the District 15-4A swim meet.
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Number of sex offenders increases
Now might be a good time to talk with your children about stranger danger. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an updated list of the country’s sex offenders this week. The survey showed 747,408 registered sex offenders.
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Council approves trash truck purchases
City plans to switch trash collection from a manual to an automated system should begin in about six months, Cleburne Assistant City Manager David Esquivel said Tuesday night.
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