The Fort Worth City Council will vote next week on whether to annex sections of some roads in the northwestern and southwestern portions of the community.
As discussed during a public hearing last week, the city is considering annexing parts of Willow Springs Road and Wagley Robertson Road to the northwest of the city and a portion of West Cleburn Road to the southwest, totaling about eight acres of roadway and right-of-way. These roads are designated as neighborhood connectors in the city’s Master Thoroughfare Plan and serve as important throughways for residents in those areas.
The roads are currently maintained by Tarrant County, but by annexing these unincorporated areas, the city would gain control of the roads and any future improvements, as well as the maintenance of them. County roads are typically paved with asphalt, and improvements are mostly focused on issues such as drainage and ditches. City roads, on the other hand, are typically concrete and may include curbs, gutters, and sidewalks.
Annexation would also give the city design control over safety features, such as lighting and speed cushions, and the ability to widen the roads if needed.
City development services said that the roadways under consideration for annexation are adjacent to properties within city limits that are experiencing urban development, per the Fort Worth Report.
Some community members have expressed mixed feelings about the measure.
“They’re approving all the homes and all the traffic that is on these two-lane roads, but they aren’t doing anything to improve the roads,” local resident Scott Kilgore told NBC 5 DFW. “So, if this gets the roads improved, gets them widened, and improves throughput through here, then I’d be fine with it.”
However, Kilgore does not want his entire neighborhood to be annexed.
“I currently live in an unincorporated neighborhood,” he said, per NBC 5. “I moved out here, and it was pretty country-ish, and they’ve been growing and expanding ever since. I certainly don’t want to see them incorporating my neighborhood.” But, he added, “If there is improvement made that don’t infringe on people’s property rights out here, I think that’s fine.”
The city’s director of Development Services, D.J. Harrell, made it clear that the city is considering annexing the roadways only, not individual properties.
“The city is not looking to do any of that in any of these situations. What we will be doing is making it better for even those folks in unincorporated areas to move about to home, to work, to school,” he said, per NBC 5.
The city council will consider the proposed annexations at its December 12 meeting.