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TxDOT preps area highways for winter storms

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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.

  1. Check your oil, antifreeze, and windshield wiper blades. Top off items if needed.
  2. Double-check your tire pressure and your spare tire.
  3. Fill up your gas tank hours before the storm hits.
  4. Pack your snow brush, ice melt, snow shovel, tool kit.
  5. Don’t forget warm boots, socks, gloves, and coat.
  6. 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

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Senate District 30 runoff early voting to open

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Texans continue to go to the elections polls as voters decide who will face off in the November general election to fill the 30th Senatorial District seat.
Both the Democratic and Republican Parties will have party primary runoffs on May 28 as they try to select a candidate to fill the seat of Senator Drew Springer (R-Muenster) who chose not to see a second-four-year term after winning a special election in 2020. He ran unopposed in 2022.
There were multiple candidates in both party primaries back in March and no one was able to garner the necessary majority. The top two vote-getters will face off to determine a winner for the November ballot.
Early voting for the runoff runs May 20-24 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Montague County Courthouse Annex Community Room. This is the only location for early voting.
On election day voting polls will be located in the courthouse annex, Bowie Senior Citizens Center, Nocona City Hall and Saint Jo Civic Center. They will be open 7 a.m.. to 7 p.m.
Those who voted in the March primary can only cast ballots in that party primary, voters cannot switch parties. Those who did not vote in the primary can vote in either party primary.

Read more on this story in the mid-week Bowie News.

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NEWS

County to bid SO radio console

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By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Montague County Commissioners will make plans to take bids for a radio console at the sheriff’s office after a portion of the unit went down.
That was just one of the many topics in Monday’s court session. An executive session to discuss pending litigation was tabled after County Judge Kevin Benton reported a conference call with the other party’s attorney and County Attorney Clay Riddle showed they were not ready for discussion and he asked it be tabled, which was approved.
On the radio console, the court has been talking about the unit since Sheriff’ Marshall Thomas reported the console has reached the end of its life expectancy of eight years and was having lots of problems. The county had applied for a grant to help pay for it, but it won’t be announced until June.
The radio system has two parts said Thomas and one unit has completely stopped working, however, they are still able to use the radio for now and handle 911 service. Judge Benton said in looking at the estimated costs it was expected to be just under the $50,000 bid limit hovering around $42,000; however, they also have found the unit needs five radios through which it can transmit from the two computers which will push up the price.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.

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Building projects lead Bowie City Council agenda

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Infrastructure projects once more dominate the agenda of the Bowie City Council when it meets at 6 p.m. on May 13.
A pair of proclamations open the meeting, one for Emergency Medical Services Week and National Travel and Tourism Week.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will present information on the substation transformer project, the phase two sewer line replacement contract, status of the infrastructure fund and plans for the budget.
A pair of public works requests will ask for $24,000 out of the infrastructure fund to buy nine fire hydrants and $29,825 from the meter tap account to buy replacement meters. Public Works Director Stony Lowrance is expected to make that presentation.

Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.

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