The City of Early and TXDOT have partnered up through their Transportation Alternative Grant Program for sidewalk constructions. The grant from TXDOT covers the entire cost of the sidewalk construction, and TXDOT employees are responsible for the oversight of the project. The sidewalk will be 5 foot wide in most places and be about 7,800 feet in length through 3 different areas of town.
The longest section starts at Early Blvd and Longhorn by the post office and continues east past McDonald Park to the West Industrial intersection. It will continue south along Industrial to Early Blvd then go west back to the Sudderth Intersection. They will be adding a crosswalk and crossing controls to allow for save passage across Early Blvd to the schools. This section of sidewalk will provide connection from a the neighborhoods around McDonald Park to the Early ISD Campuses.
The next section will begin at the Longhorn Townhomes on Oak Street and progress South to Early Blvd and then west to the Family Dollar Driveway. This section of sidewalk will provide the town home residents and the users of the park a safe space to travel to places such as Allsups, and Family Dollar. There is a large population of park users during baseball season that walk to the convenience stores for treats and drinks, this will assure their travel is safe.
The final section will be along Orchard Drive behind Chicken Express. It will begin at the Orchard /Orchard split and travel north in front of Up In Smoke BBQ, cross Parkway and end at already established sidewalks along Early Blvd. A portion of this project will also address the Orchard/parkway intersection by installing a calming circle in the intersection.
The City of Early is proud of our relation with our local TXDOT office making this type of project possible.