Safety features in the form of texturized centerlines and shoulders will be added to five area highways during coming months, according to plans approved in September by the Texas Department of Transportation.
"We are looking at installing texturized pavement methods to centerline areas of these highways to help prevent crossover crashes and along the shoulders to prevent run-off-the-road crashes," said Rebecca Wells, district traffic engineer for TxDOT in Atlanta. "The texturized pavement methods make noise when vehicle tires run over them, alerting drivers that they are getting out of their traffic lane."
Highways scheduled to receive the improvements include:
- Five miles of Farm to Market Road 1840 from Interstate 30 to state Highway 8 in Bowie County.
- Nine miles of state Highway 11 from FM 130 to state Highway 49 in Cass County.
- Seven miles of state Highway 49 from state Highway 11 to state Highway 55 in Cass County.
- Six miles of state Highway 77 from Morris County Line to FM 250 in Cass County.
- Nine miles of state Highway 77 from FM 1841 to Louisiana state line.
- Four miles of FM 250 from FM 130 to state Highway 11 in Cass County.
Stripe-A-Zone of Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded the contract for the construction on these projects with a bid of $1.9 million.
Work on the projects should begin in November and take about nine months to complete, Wells said.