Colleyville outlines Cheek-Sparger Road corridor plan; preliminary design funding of $843,000 on tonight's agenda

City Engineer Larry Wright briefed the Colleyville City Council on the Cheek-Sparger Road corridor project, describing a multi-year effort that combines roadway widening, intersection improvements, sidewalks, drainage and utility upgrades and coordinated work with neighboring jurisdictions.

Wright said the project was submitted through multiple funding channels beginning with the county's transportation bond program and later through appropriations requests. He reported that Tarrant County had committed about $13 million and that staff had pursued additional grants. "In March of 2022, we went to Representative Beth Van Dine's appropriation bill meeting ... then we found out shortly thereafter that we've been approved through Tarrant County for basically $13,000,000 of their money," Wright said during the presentation.

Wright described the corridor concept: one 12-foot lane in each direction, medians, pocketed turn lanes at key intersections, sidewalks and stormwater and water/wastewater upgrades. He said the design would also consider signals versus roundabouts and alignment choices and noted a separate roundabout project at the Bedford end of the corridor. He described the narrowest right-of-way at the corridor as 51 feet and said the project team had surveyed existing right-of-way to test feasible alignments. "At our skinniest point, our right of way is 51 feet," Wright said.

On utilities, staff said the Trinity River Authority (TRA) had indicated it needs to replace a 27-inch water main in the corridor and is studying upsizing the line to 36 inches, work that affects design and funding coordination among Colleyville, Bedford and adjacent cities.

Wright outlined expected engineering costs and schedule. He said preliminary design (the 30% conceptual PS&E) cost is approximately $843,000, which council will consider on the regular agenda later the same night; final design could run about $2.5 million and total engineering in the $3.5 million to $4 million range (about 10% of overall project cost is typical), he said. "The preliminary design cost here are 843,000 to get those PS and E plans ready ... and then we'll have to come back at a later date for the final design funding which could be somewhere around 2 and a half million dollars," Wright said.

Staff said funding remains in flux. Wright said Bedford recently indicated it would not participate at the level previously expected and might contribute as little as 5 percent; he said the North Central Texas Council of Governments (COG) had identified a $10 million federal funding allocation to the project and that Rep. Beth Van Dine's office had awarded approximately $2.5 million. Wright and council discussed the potential shortfall and the possibility that NetCOG/COG involvement and other grants could close gaps. Wright said the team expects design to continue through federal and TxDOT review over the next three years and anticipates a construction bid process around 2028.

Council members asked clarifying questions about jurisdictional participation, enforcement of right-of-way constraints and which agency would administer the project. Wright said Colleyville would serve as the local lead on bidding and contracting, but federal and state funding triggers would require compliance with TxDOT standards and federal review. He also said coordination with Bedford about trail placement and roundabout design is ongoing.

No formal action was taken during the work session; city staff noted a design contract (preliminary engineering) was on the council agenda later that evening for approval.