The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has released a public survey and interactive comment map on US 287. The survey is active now and will remain open until Monday, September 16, 2024. AUSTIN JACKSON | WCMESSENGER
Wise County residents have been calling for changes to U.S. 287 for years, and now there’s an official way for the public to let the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) know what they think about the highway.
As part of the feasibility study for the US 287 Interstate Highway, TxDOT has launched a survey to collect public comments on specific issues along the corridor.
“Your opinion is important to us,” the TxDOT survey states. “You can help us plan the future of US 287 by taking a short survey below that should take less than 5 minutes, or by leaving a comment about a specific location along the corridor on the interactive map.”
The standard survey includes seven questions and a section for comments. There is also an interactive map where you can zoom in on a location and leave a comment about a specific issue along the highway. When you identify a specific area, you can categorize your comment by traffic issues, safety issues, maintenance issues, access issues, points of interest, and others.
(LINK TO SURVEY)
(INTERACTIVE MAP LINK)
This summer, government officials and various stakeholders along the 671-mile stretch of highway from Port Arthur to Amarillo have made arguments for elevating U.S. 287 to Interstate Highway status. If classified as an Interstate Highway, it would require extensive improvements to meet Interstate Highway standards.
Design standards for Interstate highways include ramp lengths that account for deceleration on exit and acceleration on entry, complete entry control, design speeds, a minimum of two lanes in each direction, 12-foot-wide travel lanes, paved left and right shoulders, and limited entry points. State departments of transportation, in cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), develop and maintain the design standards for the Interstate Highway System, and the Federal Highway Administration finalizes and distributes them for nationwide use.
Judge JD Clark of Wise County has been directly involved in the effort as chair of the central working group for the feasibility study. He said that so far, one common area of improvement in the central working group, which includes Tarrant County and surrounding fast-growing communities, is the need for access roads.
The area studied is home to 8 million people and the gross domestic product along the highway is estimated at $510 billion. Freight value growth of 44 percent is expected by 2050. US 287 is the busiest road in Wise County and also the one with the most fatalities. Last year, there were nine fatal accidents on US 287, resulting in 10 deaths.
Officials from the Southeast are drawing attention to the highway’s direct connection to ports on the Texas coast and the region’s role in trade and transportation. The Northwest group is concerned with livestock and crop transportation. The central section includes larger cities such as Fort Worth and emerging rural communities. Their assessment and planning development is focused on safety, capacity, economic development and industry-specific concerns for the fast-growing North Texas area.
Click here for more information on the intergovernmental feasibility study.
