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Hurst OKs TxDOT median-cut agreement and developer escrow for Highway 10 access
Summary
Council approved a local off-system agreement with TxDOT to permit a left-turn median cut on State Highway 10 and authorized the city manager to sign a developer and escrow agreement transferring project responsibilities to a developer that will escrow construction funds.
Hurst City Council on Monday approved a local off-system improvement agreement (LOSA) with the Texas Department of Transportation to allow a left-turn median cut on State Highway 10 and separately authorized the city manager to enter into a developer and escrow agreement with the property developer for the same project.
City staff said a developer wants to build on a parcel between the Veteran's Village apartments and a galvanizing plant along Highway 10, but an existing median prevents left-turn access. TxDOT requires the city to manage and execute the median cut agreement, so the city will enter the LOSA and then transfer responsibility to the developer under a developer/escrow contract. The developer will escrow the full amount of project costs so the city can complete the work if the developer does not.
"We have a developer that wants to come in and build on the piece of land... in order for TxDOT to approve a median cut there and accommodate a left hand turn for access to the property, TxDOT wants to do all of that with us, not with the private developer," Clayton, a city staff presenter, said. "So this agreement would require the city to manage that process and fund the improvements... we'll have the developer escrow the full amount of the project costs."
Councilmember McKenzie moved to approve the LOSA with TxDOT; the motion carried. The council then authorized the city manager to sign a developer and escrow agreement with the developer identified in the record as Archway (referred to in the meeting as Archway Hearst Industrial). Councilmembers said the developer must still complete the city's development review process; approving the escrow/developer agreement does not substitute for that review.
City staff described the two approvals as sequential steps: the LOSA establishes the city's contractual responsibilities with TxDOT, and the developer agreement transfers those responsibilities while ensuring funds are escrowed to guarantee completion of the median-cut work if needed.
