A project to add additional lanes to US 380 in Frisco to facilitate the region’s rapid growth will continue to move forward in 2023.
The widening of the highway has partially already begun at US 380 in Frisco and Denton County between Teel Parkway and Mahard Drive, with that phase of construction expected to be completed by 2025.
Work on the rest of the project is on hold until the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) gains final environmental clearance, which is expected in spring 2023.
An environmental assessment has been underway since the spring of 2022 to ensure no ecological damage will occur. Once TxDOT gains environmental clearance, it will begin acquiring the property needed in the area to widen the road and start accepting bids from contractors to undertake the $630 million project.
TxDOT expects to settle on a contractor by 2026, with construction beginning shortly after that.
Expanding US 380 is necessary due to the exponential growth in Denton and Collin counties, according to a TxDOT presentation. The presentation suggested the highway has seen increased congestion and higher crash rates compared to similar roadways in the area.
“The population in Collin County continues to grow, and the current design of US 380 between Teel Parkway and Lakewood Drive would not meet the future traffic demands,” Madison Schein with TxDOT told The Dallas Express.
“The proposed project would include a limited access highway, frontage roads, and on/off ramps. This is one of five projects in the Collin County area to make US 380 a limited-access freeway. The proposed changes will meet safety demands,” he continued.
Schein added that one last public hearing would be held this month, giving the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed project.
Denton County Commissioner Ryan Williams, whose district includes Frisco, suggested that expanding US 380 is “long overdue.”
“We have experienced an amazing amount of growth along [US] 380, and more is coming. Widening [US] 380 first and foremost makes this a safer highway and will undoubtedly save lives,” he said. “Beyond that, it will save our residents a lot of valuable time getting to and from work and play.”
Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney echoed the same sentiment in an interview with The Dallas Express.
“380 is a critical arterial roadway, a major highway for this entire region,” he said. “We’re seeing tremendous growth along this corridor, from the east and west and north… this is one of the fastest growing regions in the entire country, and so it’s critical that we put in this infrastructure to make sure that we can support all the growth that’s coming.”
Mayor Cheney said he had not seen any pushback on the proposed project as it pertains to Frisco.
“Thankfully, in Frisco, we had set aside our right of way a long time ago; that was the foresight of our former city manager, George Purefoy,” he said. “So we’ve been aligned with Prosper as far as where the roadway would go and working with our landowners there, so the footprint of the road has been set in Frisco.”