Denton's railroad quiet zone for the downtown crossings, a project once scheduled to be finished by July 2019, is now expected to go out for bids late this year and start construction in the spring of 2027, according to a city status report on voter-approved bond projects.
The report goes to the city's Bond Oversight Committee at noon Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Council Work Session Room at City Hall, 215 E. McKinney St. Chief Financial Officer Matt Hamilton's staff prepared it to track spending and remaining costs on projects from the 2014, 2019 and 2023 bond elections.
The quiet zone
The project covers the Union Pacific crossings at McKinney, Hickory, Sycamore and Prairie streets, where added signals and other equipment would let trains pass without routinely sounding their horns. Staff attribute the years of delay to significant staffing changes at the railroad and to the city's own decision to add pedestrian crossing improvements to the scope.
Union Pacific has approved the plans, the report says, and the city is negotiating construction agreements. Staff are also applying for a federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant to help pay for construction.
Bonnie Brae costs keep climbing
The report also tracks the long-running widening of Bonnie Brae Street. Voters in 2014 approved $9.5 million for the stretch north of Interstate 35E, phases 4A, 4B and 5; the revised estimate for those three phases is now $28 million.
Phase 4B, the widening from I-35E to the Scripture Street roundabout, is held until other phases are finished, with construction now expected to begin in the second quarter of 2027 and last about 18 months.
Phase 6, from University Drive to U.S. 77, was first budgeted at $6.1 million to reach Windsor Drive. Extended limits pushed its estimate to $31.1 million, with $11.06 million in federal money approved through the regional planning council. It is under construction and tentatively due in the second quarter of 2027.
Phase 3, south of the interstate, is expected to wrap up this month. TxDOT will build Phase 7 as part of its Loop 288 contract but has no schedule.
Waiting on money
Several 2023 projects are paced by when the city sells the bonds. Final design for the $15 million Water Works Park upgrade is complete and awaiting permits, but construction funding was shifted to the 2026-27 fiscal year. None of the $15 million voters approved for affordable housing has been issued; the current schedule spreads it from 2026-27 through 2030-31.
