Denton County approved a construction agreement with Ed Bell Construction Thursday morning to provide a little relief to motorists at the FM 407 at I-35W interchange in Argyle.
The FM 407 at I-35W “Micro Breakout” project will improve the highly-congested intersection by adding turn lanes, vehicle deflection walls and improving drainage and pavement markings.
“We know this has been a difficult situation for residents who use this route and, though improvements to FM 407 are in our long-term plans, we needed to take action sooner than later,” said Precinct 4 Commissioner Dianne Edmondson.
The county awarded the project to Ed Bell for its $2,058,939 bid, which was the lowest of the three bids submitted that also met specifications.
Ed Bell was one of 295 vendors the county invited to bid on the project.
According to the county, the project is expected to be completed in about six months.
It is the earliest bit of relief Denton County could provide for southern Denton County commuters after years of delays from the Texas Department of Transportation.
Even though Denton County stuck its neck out to provide a “quick” fix for drivers, there is still a long way to go before TxDOT’s full vision for FM 407 expansion is completed.
However, TxDOT did schedule public hearing (that was cancelled due to weather) for a project to expand more than 11 miles of FM 407 from Northlake to the east side of Argyle, which has been years in the making.
In 2023, TxDOT held a public meeting to soft launch the plans to reroute FM 407 around Old Town Justin and expand it to six lanes with a dividing median.
“As our housing developments across the southwest portion of the county have escalated, traffic also increased,” said Denton County Judge Andy Eads. “We began the process with [TxDOT] to expand the two existing lanes to six lanes along the FM 407 corridor from Gateway Drive to Cleveland-Gibbs Road several years ago. I appreciate Commissioner Edmondson advocating for this roadway improvement that will be completed in the next few months.”
Ed Bell Construction Company has done previous work in southern Denton County, including a portion of FM 2499 and a $4.3 million contract for Waketon Road in Flower Mound.
(Note: this article was updated on Feb. 9 to add in comments from Denton County elected officials)
