Friday, April 26, 2024
Coryell County leaders, working in partnership with Natural Resources Solutions (NRS) consultants, have identified several projects to enhance the safety of the community and will submit grant applications in hope of getting state or federal funding for those improvements.
Members of the Coryell County Commissioners Court are seeking to address flooding concerns throughout the area, and plan to submit a list of 10 priorities to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) for consideration.
"We are trying to inventory and address some problem areas," said Coryell County Judge Roger Miller. "There are more than 70 low-water crossings and an additional 140 named streams and areas of concern. We are working so we can have infrastructure that is as safe as possible."
While additional work could be scheduled as funding becomes available, areas of concern that can be addressed through what the GLO refers to as "shovel-ready projects include:
* County Road 174 at Plum Creek
* County Road 182 at Plum Creek
* County Road 182 at Dry Fork
* Winters Road at Coryell Creek
* Greenbriar Road at North Greenbriar Creek
* Greenbriar Road at a branch of North Greenbriar Creek
* Big Valley Road at Clark Creek
* County Road 356 at Flint Creek
* Lutheran Church Road at Settlement Branch
* County Road 142 at a branch of Bee House Creek
The county road and bridge department helped to identify the priority areas and considered factors such as the frequency of flooding in an area, whether there have been fatalities attributed to flooding at certain locations, whether the crossings are on school bus routes, places where people have been trapped by flooding, and places where a high amount of impervious cover (such as asphalt or concrete) create heavy runoff. Areas where substantial future development is projected was also considered.
Justin Latham, director of the county road and bridge department said the proximity of one area to another that experiences flooding was also a factor in compiling the list.
"On Greenbriar Road, the two areas of concern are really close," he said. "If you fix one and not the other, you're really not resolving the issue."
He said that the area identified on County Road 174 "has 58,000 acres of drainage — that's a complicated one. It's a large creek and there would be a lot of engineering involved (in fixing the issue)."
The area at County Road 182 is between 11,000 and 16,000 acres.
Big Valley Road is in the southern part of the county south of Copperas Cove. An analysis showed that nearly half of the area identified is in impervious cover, meaning there is a significant amount of runoff, which creates flooding in the area.
"There's not even a drainpipe in the middle of the subdivision," Latham said.
Steve Manning with NRS said that will help the GLO determine funding opportunities for the county.
"What they're looking for is a list of 10 potential projects with a prioritization list and we'll see what we can get funded," he said.
"I think that's exactly what they're looking for with the projects — the scope — and working with the NRS they (the road and bridge department employees) have come up with about as good of a list as we could ask for," Judge Miller said.
As part of the process, NRS is working on a hazard mitigation plan for Coryell County, which will help the county when it comes to applying for state and federal grants.
