I’ve uploaded a video from Monday’s City Council meeting where Pate Transportation detailed plans for a new bridge to cross Highway 80 between CR-212 and Windmill Farms Blvd. This is actually our first video here on TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com and was shot rather spur of the moment using my digital camera, so I hope it is at least watchable so everyone has a chance to see the fly-through of the 3D rendering of what is planned for this bridge. This bridge is significant for a number of reasons, which I’ll detail below the video. In the meantime, check out the video – this is from the council meeting, so the voice you hear is a Pate employee describing what you’re seeing. If the video does not appear below (click on it to begin playback), simply visit this page to view it.

Click ‘Read On’, below, to read more about this bridge and the surrounding development and roadwork.

In addition to providing the first and only road in Forney that will allow travelers to cross on a bridge over the railroad, eliminating delays due to trains, this bridge is one of the critical components that attracted developers to the planned 2.2 million square foot regional shopping mall that was announced for this area, as the bridge and related roadways will connect to FM-548 north of Ridgecrest Road, near Reeder Road as well as continue south towards 741, providing another route to I-20. Furthermore, the roadways are being designed with an eye towards the future Loop 9, planned to pass through Kaufman County just east of Windmill Farms, between Forney and Terrell.

This roadwork plays an integral part of the Forney thoroughfare plan, a map of which appears below.

I have enlarged the portion of the map that surrounds the Endeavor retail project and annotated it to better show the area this bridge will be built in.

These maps show what a central role this new bridge and the related roadwork will play into the future of Forney; indeed, it creates quite a few possibilities for future development in the eastern portion of Forney.

This bridge is also significant because, unlike the development that has been discussed in Terrell, the plan for this bridge and the surrounding development is not a TIF district (Tax Increment Financing), but instead, a TRZ or Transportation Reinvestment Zone. These zones are brand new – they were authorized during the most recent legislative session in Texas and, combined with the pass-through financing that Forney is already employing with the improvements to the FM-548/Highway 80 area, will allow Forney to complete this project in record-breaking time. Representatives from the City as well as Pate Transportation believe that Forney could be the first city in the State of Texas to take advantage of a TRZ.

Forney was also one of the first cities in the state to take advantage of the pass-through financing program the legislature passed in 2003, which is allowing Forney to improve FM-548, FM-740 and FM-741 using funds from the city bond election. By funding these projects up front, the city did not have to wait for the Texas Department of Transportation to make these improvements and will be able to complete this roadwork years ahead of when TxDOT would’ve likely finished. Through the pass-through program, TxDOT will reimburse the city for the cost of the roadway once it is completed, based primarily on the amount of traffic the road receives.

This willingness to consider and embrace new approaches to these projects is allowing Forney to adapt to the rapid growth in the area while attracting top notch retail and residential developments.

Stay tuned, an article about Endeavor Real Estate Group, the real estate developers behind the retail center announced today will be coming soon. In the meantime, feel free to continue to discuss this news in the thread created earlier today for the announcement of the 2.2 million square foot regional shopping center.