Denton accelerates road and sidewalk projects around ISD campuses; Reeves Elementary set to open in August

Seth Garcia, interim director of capital projects for the City of Denton, told the Denton City Council and the Denton ISD Board of Trustees on April 1 that the city is advancing multiple roadway and pedestrian projects adjacent to school campuses and will prioritize work needed for the district's new Reeves Elementary to open this August.

Garcia said the city is working on three near-term projects around school properties: Bonnie Brae Phase 6, Riney Road East and an East–West segment of Westgate. "With Bonnie Brae Phase 6, we're widening from a 4-lane and 2-lane rural section up on the north to a 4-lane divided section," Garcia said. He added the project includes enhanced pedestrian facilities, utility work and traffic signals and that crews started work in March to install a permanent waterline serving Reeves Elementary.

The city plans to deliver permanent water service to Reeves in April and to coordinate traffic control and paving with Denton ISD before the school opens in August 2025. Garcia said construction completion dates for the larger packages range from quarter 2 of 2026 to quarter 4 of 2027 depending on the project.

City staff described Riney Road East as a continuation of State Highway 436 to U.S. 77 with roadway widening, relocated utilities and a park trail connecting subdivisions, North Lakes Park and the new Reeves site. "The trail is going to provide access to the school through the park," Garcia said. He said construction design is underway and the city anticipates construction to begin in Q3 2025 with a projected completion of Q2 2026.

The East–West portion of Westgate was out to bid at the time of the briefing, with bids expected to close the following Wednesday; the city planned to expedite that segment to provide a traffic connection to Bronco Way by fall 2025. Garcia said the North–South portion of Westgate and the Windsor segment remain in design and that right-of-way acquisition offers were being issued.

Garcia placed the street work in the context of the city's larger bond and rehabilitation programs. "Neighborhoods 2 and 6 are part of our 2019 bond program," he said, describing roughly 20 roadway segments split among three guaranteed maximum price packages. Neighborhood 1B is another construction-manager-at-risk package of about 40 roadway segments; that package began construction in Q1 2025 with an expected completion of Q4 2026. He said the overall largest completion target for the combined projects is Q4 2027.

Safe Routes to School sidewalk work was also discussed. Garcia said the recently awarded contract will install new five-foot sidewalks at several campuses, with segments near schools prioritized for summer construction. "We're going to expedite the ones near the schools into the summer time frame to have those complete hopefully by August, September of this year," he said, and noted some sidewalk segments are further from campuses and will be completed later.

Trustees and council members asked for details on how construction will affect school buses and walking routes. A board member who identified herself as Ms. Price emphasized that closures and detours affect district bus routes. Garcia said the city's capital program team is tracking roughly 80 projects in design or construction citywide, with about 15 in active construction that could cause detours or closures; he encouraged partners to use the city's street-closure reports and to sign up for email updates at discussdenton.com.

District and city staff said they will coordinate traffic control, contractor schedules and sidewalk closures near campuses to try to avoid overlapping work that would obstruct student access. Garcia said the city will accelerate sidewalk segments and coordinate contractors when work areas overlap.

Why it matters: the work packages include lane expansions, signals and pedestrian facilities intended to improve access and safety for students and to support expected neighborhood growth. Several projects tie directly to school entrances or bus routes; city staff emphasized coordination with Denton ISD for traffic control and construction phasing. Officials asked the district and development services to coordinate where private development activity might overlap with city work to avoid duplicate construction.

The briefing closed with Garcia offering to answer questions and to continue coordination with district staff on schedules and closures.