District holds ribbon cutting for SH 34 bridges
Fannin County, Texas -- Upper Trinity Regional Water District (Upper Trinity) celebrated the completion of the State Highway 34 bridges over the North Sulphur River and Merrill Creek, which will carry traffic over the future Lake Ralph Hall at a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 13.
The new, 1.1-mile-long North Sulphur River bridge near Ladonia, TX includes a special walkway for pedestrians and bicyclists. In addition to that main bridge and the much shorter Merrill Creek Bridge, Upper Trinity and its contractors rerouted a section of FM 1550 to accommodate the new lake’s shoreline.
Speakers at the ribbon cutting included Upper Trinity Executive Director Larry Patterson and representatives from Flatiron Construction, the bridge’s design/build contractor and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Paris District.
“This is a significant landmark in the construction of Lake Ralph Hall,” said Larry Patterson, Upper Trinity’s Executive Director. “We are incredibly grateful for the support and collaboration of all who have been involved—especially Flatiron Construction, who built these bridges over the last two years.”
Pending final clearance by TxDOT, Flatiron will be opening the bridges in the next few weeks.
Drivers through the area should stay alert for changes to traffic patterns.
Lake Ralph Hall is one of the state’s biggest water projects in the last 30 years and will provide up to 54 million gallons of water per day to the communities Upper Trinity serves in Denton and Collin counties. In addition to the bridges and road improvements, Upper Trinity is working on numerous other components for the lake project, including construction of 32 miles of underground pipeline and a new balancing reservoir to transport raw water from Lake Ralph Hall to its water system.
Environmental mitigation is also underway to restore a portion of the former North Sulphur River below the Leon Hurse Dam, along with several tributaries, to its natural, meandering path. For more information about Lake Ralph Hall, visit www.lakeralphhall.com.
About the Upper Trinity Regional Water District
Upper Trinity is a regional water district created by the Texas Legislature in 1989 for the benefit of cities and utilities in the Denton County area. Its mandate is to develop regional plans for water services, and to provide both water and wastewater services on a wholesale basis to cities and utilities within its service area, including all of Denton County and portions of Dallas and Collin counties. For more information, please contact Jason Pierce, Manager of Government Affairs &
Communications at 972-219-1228.