Commissioners Court approves Rayford Road expansion, RR overpass design
By Bridget Balch
The Montgomery County Commissioners Court approved $370,000 for the first two phases of the engineering design of the project to widen Rayford Road and construct a railroad overpass to relieve traffic congestion in the area at its Oct. 6 meeting.
The project will widen Rayford Road from four to six lanes from the Union Pacific Railroad to the future site of the Grand Parkway and will also construct an overpass above the railroad. Engineering design is set to begin in early 2016 and is expected to take about 16 months.
“This is probably one of the biggest projects we’re going to be taking on within Precinct 3 and perhaps in all of Montgomery County,” Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said at the meeting. “It’s something that this community definitely needs.”
The contract for the engineering design was awarded to Klotz Associates.
Phases I and II will consist of schematic layout and survey services, priced at $150,000, and preliminary engineering, priced at $220,000.
Klotz Associates estimated that Phases I and II will be completed six months from the date of the Notice to Proceed, with the exception of obtaining a Union Pacific Railroad permit, which can take 12-14 months.
Phases IIIA and IIIB, which will cost an additional $910,000, will include the creation of construction documents. Klotz Associates estimated that Phase III will be completed within eight months of the Notice to Proceed.
The Commissioners Court’s approval comes two weeks after the South County Mobility Plan to improve area roads was revealed to the public, with the Rayford Road expansion and railroad overpass the first project on a long list of suggested short-term needs.
The South County Mobility Plan estimated that the total cost of construction for the project will be about $35.2 million
