NEWS
TxDOT preps area highways for winter storms
WICHITA FALLS DISTRICT – All nine counties (Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Montague, Throckmorton Wichita, Wilbarger, and Young) in the Wichita Falls District spent today preparing for the winter storm predicted to hit Tuesday night into Wednesday. The Wichita District takes care of 6,500 lane miles of roadways in our 9 counties.
TxDOT crews pretreated bridges and overpasses with brine. Some areas utilized two large tanker trucks to spread brine quickly. These tankers also delivered extra brine to maintenance yards. Snowplows and V-Box with spreaders were hooked up and tested on our fleet of 79 snowplows for the district.
In the Wichita Falls area, the main lanes of I-44, US 287, and Kell Fwy (US 82) were pretreated with brine. The bridges and overpasses were treated as well. Other lesser volume highways had bridges and overpasses treated.
In the Gainesville area the main lanes of I-35 were pretreated with brine. The bridges and overpasses were included as usual. Other lesser volume highways had bridges and overpasses treated.
Pretreating the main lanes of our highest volume freeways is done when a storm system is expected to dump large amounts of snow in a relatively short amount of time. TxDOT employs this strategy only on Tier one roadways.
Tuesday, crews will finish up pretreatment of Tier 1 and 2 highways as well as moving to Tier 3 and 4 roadways. More brine will be made to keep storage units full as we put down more.
We will also be sending half of our crew home near lunchtime to rest. This half crew will return at midnight to start a 12-hour shift around the clock at all of our offices.
Tuesday will also be a good day for motorists to plan ahead for their Wednesday travel plans.
- Check your oil, antifreeze, and windshield wiper blades. Top off items if needed.
- Double-check your tire pressure and your spare tire.
- Fill up your gas tank hours before the storm hits.
- Pack your snow brush, ice melt, snow shovel, tool kit.
- Don’t forget warm boots, socks, gloves, and coat.
- Is your phone charged? Pack your cables.
Motorists can obtain travel information by visiting drivetexas.org or calling (800) 452-9292 Twitter for the Wichita Falls District is also available for breaking conditions. @TxDOTWF
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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