Notice Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Public Review and Public Hearing I-35E Frontage Roads From US 77 South of Waxahachie to US 77 North of Waxahachie
CSJs: 0048-04-090; 0048-04-092; 0048-04-093 and 0048-04-094
Purpose:
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) proposes improvements to Interstate Highway 35 East (I-35E) in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas. The project limits extend from US 77 South of Waxahachie to US 77 North of Waxahachie, for a total distance of approximately 11 miles. This notice advises the public that a draft environmental assessment (EA) is available for public review and that TxDOT will be conducting a public hearing on the proposed project.
Description:
The proposed project will reconstruct and widen the existing frontage roads, convert all two-way operations to one-way operations and make all of the frontage roads continuous along the entire project. The proposed frontage roads would include a 12-foot inside lane, a 14-foot outside shared use lane with 2 foot offsets to the face of curb, provide six-foot sidewalks throughout and provide new pedestrian bridges along US 287 east and west of I-35E. Additional improvements would include new I-35E overpasses at Lofland Drive, Butcher Road (Farm-to-Market [FM] 387), Sterrett Road; a new interchange at Hotel Drive at FM 664 (Ovilla Road) and improvements to FM 66 and FM 1446. All of the cross-street improvements would also include left and right turn bays along with U-Turns. This project also proposes to build two direct connectors [in the peak hourly direction] at the US 287/I-35E interchange to relieve the current congestion at this interchange. The project would require the acquisition of approximately 33.2 acres of new right of way (ROW) and 1.1 acres of permanent drainage easements; 1.3 acres of temporary construction easements would also be required to accommodate the proposed roadway improvements. No residential or commercial property displacements or relocations would be required.
The proposed project is located within the 100-year floodplain associated with North Grove Creek, South Grove Creek, Mustang Creek, Waxahachie Creek, and some associated tributaries. The hydraulic design for the proposed project would be in accordance with current TxDOT and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) design policies and standards. It is anticipated that the proposed project would result in fill within waters of the U.S. and would require authorization by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Section 404 Nationwide Permit 14. Sites 8 and 17 would require Pre-construction Notification for impacts to wetlands.
Four properties would experience direct effects by the proposed project. The proposed project would take ROW from properties that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the project is subject to Section 4(f) coordination pursuant to 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 774.5. Effects to the resources are minimal and resulted in a finding of No Adverse Effect; however, total property takes constitute a de minimis use of the properties under Section 4(f). TxDOT will consider comments received during the environmental process before making a final Section 4(f) de minimis determination.
Displays will be available for viewing at 6:00 p.m.
Formal presentation: 7:00 p.m.
Waxahachie Civic Center Ballrooms 1 & 2
2000 Civic Center Lane,
Waxahachie, Texas 75165
Downloads:
I 35E Notice of Availability and Public Hearing - English