Tyler County selects $2 million Ivanhoe road-and-bridge project over $1 million alternative

Tyler County commissioners voted to accept a $2 million Local Communities Program (LCP) award for the Ivanhoe/Tolar Road project, choosing that option over a $1.1 million College Road alternative. The court approved Project 24D LCP 6761344 on a motion and second after staff explained the scope, match requirements and a deadline to confirm which funded project the county would pursue.

Susan (county staff) told the court the county had been invited to choose one of two eligible projects after receiving notice that the application had been funded, and that the decision needed to be made quickly because of an external deadline. Nick (county road project staff) described the Ivanhoe scope: “So, we rebuild the entire road from the highway all the way to the other side of the bridge. It's about a mile of road, I believe. About 5,000 ft of road is to be rebuilt. Tearing out the old wooden bridge, the single lane wooden bridge that is currently there … replacing that with a new concrete TxDOT standard bridge.”

Commissioners discussed match obligations (50% match rate was stated) and local priorities. One commissioner argued that choosing the $2 million project avoided leaving money on the table: “We're going to leave a million dollars on the table if we don't claim this one project.” After debate and a motion to select the Ivanhoe project, the court voted in favor by voice; no recorded roll‑call tally was provided on the transcript.

Next steps included staff preparing necessary paperwork for the GLO, coordinating required local matching funds, and working with TxDOT where the intersection work requires city or state cooperation. Staff noted some intersection elements would need coordination with Texarkana leadership and that the grant covers the bridge replacement and road rebuild but not every adjacent intersection improvement.