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Glenn Heights officials present timeline and safety plans for South Ewell Road expansion
Summary
City staff and the engineer gave an update on the South Ewell Road expansion, describing a conversion from two lanes to five, underground drainage, new signalization and a likely late-summer start with a 180-day contract.
Glenn Heights city officials on Monday presented an update on the South Ewell Road expansion project, describing plans to widen the roadway from its current two-lane configuration to five lanes, install new underground storm drainage, add sidewalks and place a new traffic signal with dedicated turn lanes at the O'Villa/Harmony intersection. The council heard that construction is expected to begin in late July or August and that the city accepted a contractor whose 180-day completion schedule was a primary factor in selection.
The project presentation was given by Michael Westfall of Westfall Engineering and introduced by Andrew Waits, Glenn Heights director of public works. Westfall said the corridor, which he described as “just over 2,000,” is currently deteriorated, with pavement, drainage and erosion issues and rising traffic from nearby single-family development and the adjacent school. “The roadway not only is gonna go to concrete, it's gonna be, expanded in width,” Westfall said, describing a final cross-section with two through lanes in each direction plus a center turn lane adjacent to commercial parcels and a transition back to two lanes near Harmony Road.
City materials and Westfall noted several design features intended to address safety and multimodal access: underground storm pipes with inlets along the curb, new pedestrian crosswalks at O'Villa in all four directions, and sidewalks along the residential side with the commercial-side sidewalks to be constructed by future developments. Westfall told the council that three bids were received at the May 28 opening and that the low spread—about $65,000, roughly 2 percent—meant the city prioritized schedule. The apparent low bidder offered a 270-day schedule while the selected contractor proposed 180 days; officials cited the 90-day time savings as a deciding factor to reduce disruption during high traffic periods.
Council members asked about resident notifications, school-bus and peak-period traffic controls, and debris removal. Waits said construction updates will appear on the city's website and that the contractor must maintain at least one lane open in each direction during construction; a detailed phasing plan will be submitted by the contractor. When Councilmember Lightfoot asked who is responsible for removing broken or derelict equipment, Westfall said the city’s construction inspector will ensure the contractor clears equipment and debris before project completion.
No formal vote on the project was held during the update; Westfall said the next steps are a pre-construction meeting and contractor mobilization. Officials repeated that the timeline could be extended for inclement weather days.
The council earlier approved consent agenda items that included this update; separate minutes note consent approval. The city did not provide a single linear measurement unit for the “just over 2,000” figure in the presentation.
Looking ahead, staff said residents should check the city website for construction phasing maps and updates once the contractor’s detailed schedule and notification plan are finalized.
