After touring the project, the NTTA sent over the following facts concerning the SRT (it’s still difficult not to call this 121) that I thought you might find interesting:

*  Overall the SRT is approximately 26 miles in length, stretching from Denton Tap Road in Denton County to east of US 75 in Collin County, linking the region’s fastest-growing communities with DFW International Airport;

* The SRT consists of 40 miles of concrete traffic barriers and over 277 acres of concrete pavement;

* The volume of concrete used in constructing the SRT is enough to build a five-foot-wide sidewalk from Dallas to Minneapolis;

* The square foot area of concrete walls along the tollway is approximately the same square foot area as the face of the Hoover Dam;

* The SRT/US 75 Interchange is designed to handle 238,000 vehicles per day;

* 16 million pounds of steel beams are being used to construct the SRT/DNT Interchange.  This is enough steel to reconstruct the Eiffel Tower or build 1 ½ Gateway Arches in St. Louis;

* The SRT project used approximately 4 million cubic yards of fill, which was equates to 400,000 dump truck loads of dirt;

* If the dump trucks that hauled the dirt were lined up from end to end, they would stretch close to 1,890 miles — greater than the distance from Dallas to Boston;

* The SRT has more than a half acre of aluminum signs; and

* The sod used to cover this project would cover 325 football fields or three 18-hole golf courses.
Most important about this project is that Collin County received approximately $1.4 billion in funding from the NTTA for future transportation projects.  This funding is called Regional Toll Revenue (RTR) funds. 

RTR funds will be used on the US 75 expansion, which will be well under way by this time next year. The total scope of the US 75 expansion is from Spring Creek Parkway in Plano north through Allen, McKinney and Melissa to the Outer Loop just south of Anna.

 
In addition RTR funds are also being used for the expansions of virtually every major thoroughfare throughout Collin County including:
- 121 through Melissa
-  FM 455 in Anna
- US 380 through Farmersville
- US 78 through the Wylie and Lavon areas
- US 380 through Frisco
- US 289 through Prosper and Celina
- Custer Road in McKinney

With the state facing a $25 billion shortfall it is safe to say that there will not be any new funding for transportation coming out of the legislature next year.  It is the RTR funding from the Sam Rayburn Tollway that is keeping Collin County’s major transportation projects moving and our economic development growing.

I look forward to keeping you updated on these important projects.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family,

Best,

Joe

The Population Health Institute’s report ranks all the counties within a state according to a number of factors affecting health outcomes (length of life and quality of life) and health factors (health behaviors, access to and quality of healthcare, social and economic factors, environment, and programs and policies). Under health outcomes:

• Collin County ranked first in mortality, which is based on the length of life as a measure of premature death, or the years of potential life lost prior to age 75

Under health factors:

• Collin County ranked first in health behaviors, which includes measures of smoking, diet, exercise, and alcohol use

• The county also ranked first in social and economic factors, which measures education, employment, income, family and social support, and community safety

• Collin County ranked third in clinical care, which measures access to care and the quality of care.

Texas is made up of 254 counties, 221 of which were included in this study. Due to data coverage limitations, not all Texas counties were included in the analysis.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute’s County Health Rankings report, underwritten by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is the first time counties across the country can get a picture of their residents’ health as a comparison to other counties within their state. For more information about the institute and this project, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org. This article also appears at www.collincountytx.gov.

Crews will begin the work required to close the ramp at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 8, 2010, and complete the work at 5 a.m. Sunday, May 9, 2010.

The road closure will begin at the existing exit from southwest-bound SH 121 to southbound U.S. 75. (SH 121 is the name of the Sam Rayburn Tollway frontage road. SH 121 in this area is also known as Spur 399, which extends just east of U.S. 75 to the intersection with SH 5.)

The closed ramp will be replaced by a new permanent direct-connector that is currently under construction and scheduled to open in December 2010.

In the interim, all motorists wishing to travel from southwest-bound SH 121 to southbound U.S. 75 will detour over U.S. 75 to Hardin Boulevard, then make a U-turn under the Sam Rayburn Tollway (SRT) main lanes and travel on the northeast-bound frontage road to reach the U.S. 75 southbound main lanes.

The contractor will place signs to notify motorists of the permanent ramp closure and to mark the detour route.

The contractor’s ongoing work is part of the NTTA’s SRT/U.S. 75 interchange project in McKinney, Allen and Fairview. The four-level interchange will feature six direct-connect ramps between the SRT and U.S. 75 to provide motorists with main lane access between the two roadways. The frontage roads will be connected by a “loop ramp” configuration, which allows drivers to access the frontage roads on non-stop, circular connections.

The NTTA appreciates the traveling public’s patience during the ongoing construction and reminds everyone to drive safely in work zones.

All closures are subject to weather conditions and will be postponed, if necessary.

For more information about upcoming lane closures and traffic-related news along NTTA roadways, call (214) 224-3030 or go to the “Lane/Ramp Closures” listing at www.ntta.org.

Below are the latest population numbers released by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (COG). Overall, Collin County grew by 19,350 people last year. This averages to 53 new residents a day moving into Collin County. Listed below are the figures for cities over 1,000 in population:

                    2000           2009            2010          09-10%
Collin Co 491,675     766,900     786,250     2.52%
Allen          43,554         82,800        84,200     1.69%
Anna            1,225            8,100           8,250      1.85%
Celina          1,861            5,100           5,200      1.68%
Fairview    2,644            8,950           9,100       1.68%
Farmersville 3,118        3,350          3,350       0.00%
Frisco           33,714   100,800    107,050      6.20%
Lavon                 387         2,250         2,550      13.33%
LowryCross. 1,229         1,350        1,350         0.00%
Lucas               2,890        5,350         5,400        0.93%
McKinney    54,369   121,850    126,900         4.14%
Melissa            1,350        4,400        4,600           4.55%
Murphy           3,099     13,500      13,700           1.48%
Parker             1,379        3,500         3,600           2.86%
Plano         222,030   263,800     265,000          0.45%
Princeton      3,377        5,950          6,400           7.56%
Prosper         2,097        7,100          9,350         31.69%
Wylie            15,132     38,300        39,000            1.83%
Rural Area 36,382     53,300        54,050             1.41%

More than half of last year’s growth throughout the sixteen county North Texas region took place in ten cities. Fort Worth grew by 15,950 to a total population of 736,200. Dallas increased by 10,000 new residents for a total population of 1,316,350. Frisco added 6,250 residents to bring the city’s population to 107,050. McKinney came in fourth by adding 5,050 people to bring its total population to 126,900 and Denton rounded out the top five by adding 3,050 people to bring its total population to 110,300.

Rockwall, Prosper, Mesquite, Richardson and Irving are the remainder of the top ten fastest growing cities in the region with Prosper adding 2,250 new people for a 31.69% growth rate. Like last year, three of the top ten fastest growing cities in the region are in Collin County.

COG also estimates that by 2030 Collin County’s population will be approximately 1.2 million citizens. This means that over the next twenty years another 413,750 people will be moving to Collin County which will result in a 52% increase in our population. While growth has slowed in the last couple of years, Collin County is still ranked as the 13th fastest growing county in the nation.

(County Commissioner Joe Jaynes is also on Facebook.)

Best,

Joe

Precinct and Voting Locations:

48,55, 164 Aldridge Elementary School, 720 Pleasant Valley Richardson

5, 6, 7, 40, 59, 80, 82, 95, 106, 113, 145, 147, 151, 162 Allen Municipal Courts Building, 301 Century Pkwy. Allen

30, 92, 111, 177 Benton Staley Middle School, 6927 Stadium Drive Frisco

37, 93 Blue Ridge High School, 11020 CR 504 Blue Ridge

90, 109, 116, 123, 137, 176 Brinker Elementary School, 3800 John Clark Parkway Plano

43, 57, 96 CCCC Central Park Campus, 2200 W. University Drive McKinney

87, 101, 117, 118, 127, 146 CCCC Preston Ridge Campus, 9700 Wade Blvd. Frisco

20, 22 Celina City Hall, 302 W. Walnut Celina

54, 62, 66 Christie Elementary School, 3801 Rainier Plano

33, 35, 42,
Community ISD Technology and Conference Center, 615 FM 1138 Nevada

14, 81, 86, 89, 108, 112, 124, 167 Daffron Elementary School, 3900 Preston Meadow Plano

47, 52, 60, 61, 68, 103, 141, 148, 165 Dooley Elementary School, 2425 San Gabriel Plano

11 Farmersville Community Center, 201 Orange Street Farmersville

122, 134, 140, 155, 163 Glen Oaks Elementary School, 6100 Glen Oaks McKinney

15, 19, 31, 53, 65, 70, 71 Haggard Middle School, 2832 Parkhaven Drive Plano

21 Harrington Elementary School, 2528 Country Place Plano

23, 46, 50, 51, 152, 154, 158 Harrington Library, 1501 18th Street Plano

27, 41, 56, 83, 133, 170, 174 Harrison Intermediate School, 1001 S. Ballard Avenue Wylie

32, 63 Hughston Elementary School, 2601 Cross Bend Road Plano

45, 128, 168, 179 Lucas City Hall, 665 Country Club Road Lucas

34, 119, 135 Mathews Elementary School, 3301 Caravan Plano

25, 94, 125, 144, 153, 159, 166, 175 Murphy Municipal Complex, 206 N. Murphy Road Murphy

1, 2, 3, 4, 44, 98, 99 Old Settlers Recreation Center, 1201 E. Louisiana McKinney

8, 9, 10, 100, 114, 160, 161 Princeton High School, 1000 East Princeton Drive Princeton

13, 29, 178 Prosper HS Library (Old), 300 Eagle Lane Prosper

39, 58, 77, 85, 91 Rasor Elementary School, 945 Hedgcoxe Plano

24, 28, 36, 73, 74, 75, 79, 84, 88, 104, 105, 115, 132, 136, 142, 143 Renner-Frankford Library, 6400 Frankford Road Dallas

78, 110 Richardson Police Sub-Station, 2003 E. Renner Road Richardson

38, 126, 129, 156, 169, 173 Ruben Johnson Elementary School, 3400 Ash McKinney

12, 131, 149 Ruth Dowell Middle School, 301 S. East Ridge Road McKinney

64, 69, 76, 107, 121, 139 Schimelpfenig Middle School, 2400 Maumelle Drive Plano

120, 130, 157, 171 Suncreek United Methodist Church, 1517 W. McDermott Drive Allen

16, 17, 18, 150, 172 Texas Star Bank, 402 W. White Street Anna

97, 102 Valley Creek Elementary School, 2800 Valley Creek Trail McKinney

26, 49, 67, 72, 138 Wilson Middle School, 1001 Custer Road Plano

Pol. Ad. Pd. for by Joe Jaynes Campaign.

Illegal dump sites are typically full of old tires, discarded computers, household trash, busted furniture, broken toys, motor oil – and even drug paraphernalia

In July 2008, Public Works first teamed up with the Collin County Sheriff’s Convicted Offender Re-Entry Effort – or, S.C.O.R.E. — to tap labor resources of the inmate work program, clearing brush and picking up dump sites. The effort, which is still going strong, saved more than $100,000 in labor costs, and cleared out more than 242,000 pounds of refuse.

Months later, Public Works joined forces with CSCD to get probationers assigned to community service to help haul another more than 42 tons of trash out of 279 dump sites in creek beds and along roadsides, saving at least $50,000 in labor costs.

These two programs combined have helped save thousands of taxpayer dollars and remove tons of trash, dead brush and debris that littered the rural landscape.

Another result of the clean-up program resulted in an investigation by the Collin County Fire Marshal, and led to two arrests for felony illegal dumping. Acting on some personal items that were found at an illegal dump site near County Road 364, investigators were able to trace the trash to a property owner who had hired someone to clean up a rental home and haul the trash to the landfill.

Through the assistance of the County Sheriff’s Office and the cooperation of the property owner, the trailers used by the suspects were tracked, resulting in the discovery of two dump sites south of Blue Ridge in November 2009.

In the process of tracking the trailer full of trash to the second dump site on the evening of Nov. 23, investigators caught the suspects in the act of illegally emptying the trailer.

The two suspects, who were brothers, both lived in McKinney. They were also undocumented aliens. The pair confessed to illegally dumping the trash, and one admitted to being responsible for a second illegal dump site discovered earlier that month. The dump sites contained more than three tons of trash.

These suspects have since been tried, sentenced and deported.

These arrests — and two others earlier in the year – are just the beginning of a new illegal dumping initiative approved by the Collin County Commissioners Court which takes a proactive approach to address and prevent illegal dumping throughout the county.

If you see an illegal dump site please call the Collin County Sheriff’s Office at 972-547-5100.

Listed below is the 2009 summary of activities from our Public Works Department:

• 51 miles of road upgrades, from rock to asphalt
• 23 miles of resurfacing rock roads
• 890 miles of grading rock roads
• 296 miles of roads oiled
• 261 culverts installed
• 1,370 miles of herbicide sprayed
• 2,506 miles of right-of-way mowed
• 26 bridges repaired
• 76 miles of ditches reshaped
• 8,533 tons of asphalt mix overlays
• 75 culvert inspections and permits
• 60 utility permits issued
• 142 soil conservation lakes mowed and maintained
• 28 traffic counts taken

In 2009, Collin County also began its program to use inmates and probationers for cleaning up illegal dumpsites and litter abatement.  Under this program some of our Public Works foremen have taken and passed the state mandated course for inmate supervision.  This allows them to go out to the jail, select prisoners out of a predetermined pool and use them for labor intensive projects.  In our first year:

•  1,400 hours of inmate labor were utilized
• 688 county roads were addressed for trash, brush and tree removal
• 3,700 tires were picked up and disposed of
• 7,250 tons of trash were disposed of

Much thanks to Sheriff Terry Box and Public Works Director Jon Kleinheksel for their hard work in making this a successful program.

 Collin County has also continued its partnership with the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) by conducting twelve monthly “Cleanup Days.” On the first Saturday of every month Collin County residents can dispose of their debris at the NTMWD landfill in Melissa free of charge.  All that is required is proof of residency and a tarp covering your load.   Last year we had 6,789 vehicles bring and dispose of 3,938 tons of debris.  Details concerning this program can be found at www.collincountytx.gov.  

 As we enter another new year, please let me know if I can ever be of service.

(County Commissioner Joe Jaynes represents Precinct 3 which includes 12 cities and towns and the unincorporated area.)

Dallas, Fort Worth get short straw in highway

spending plan OKd by state

05:49 PM CST on Thursday, November 19, 2009By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
mlindenberger@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN — Texas transportation officials approved a $1.85 billion plan today to build or improve highways throughout Texas, rejecting protests from Dallas and Fort Worth that nearly all of the money will be spent in Houston and along Interstate 35 near Waco. Quickly brushing aside those complaints, the Texas Transportation Commission voted 5-0 to accept the spending plan that just one week ago had touched off a firestorm among members of the Regional Transportation Council in Arlington.

The plan also calls for spending about $575 million on projects to ease congestion in big cities, but will be concentrated on three projects in Houston and San Antonio.

All the Dallas and Fort Worth districts will get is about $126 million in maintenance work.

That apparent slighting of the greater Dallas area enraged local officials, but their presence was hardly felt today in Austin. Of the dozen or so lawmakers, including three members of Congress from the Houston area, who spoke about the spending plan, none were from North Texas.

Representing the Regional Transportation Council, Fort Worth City Council member Jungus Jordan thanked the commission for its hard work, and rebuked it only mildly for bypassing the region. Afterward, he said in an interview that local officials haven’t changed their opinion since last week.

“We’re still red-hot,” Jordan said. “But we’ve opted for a strategic repositioning.”

He said the region wants to work with the Texas Department of Transportation to make sure critical highway projects are funded through other sources in the future — something commissioners said they remained committed to doing. The commission instructed staff members to report by January on new funding strategies for developing two major road projects strongly urged by North Texas leaders: a massive expansion of Interstate 35E in Denton County and the interchange between Interstate 35E and Loop 820 near Fort Worth.

Only Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes spoke out directly against the commission’s decision — while conceding that his was a “minority report,” given the large number of powerful Texas players on hand to support it.

“There is a perception among Dallas-Fort Worth leaders that we are being punished for our support of toll roads,” he told the commissioners. Echoing arguments made last week in Arlington by regional transportation director Michael Morris, who was not at today’s meeting, Jaynes urged commissioners to award future bond proceeds by the same formula that state law provides for distribution of most of gasoline-tax revenues collected in Texas.

State law forbids the transportation department from reducing the amount of road money a region gets because it has embraced tolling. Some North Texas officials said Dallas was snubbed this time only because the region’s coffers are still full of money paid by North Texas Tollway Authority for the right to build State Highway 121.

But top TxDOT officials testified that that simply was not the case.

In any case, it was clear almost immediately that the anger expressed last week had failed to turn into an effective campaign to change the funding decision.

Even the one member of the Transportation Commission who is from North Texas, former Fort Worth City Council member Bill Meadows, strongly defended the plan as proposed by transportation staff members.

“I absolutely favor the staff recommendation,” he told a packed room at the Art Deco-inspired Greer Building across the street from the Texas Capitol, where the 12,000-employee Texas Department of Transportation is headquartered.

He said Dallas and Fort Worth have received big shares of previous allocations, including larger-than-average awards from the federal stimulus package, and is certain to receive its fair share in the future.

He said complaints raised in North Texas last week that the commission was violating the law by not awarding the funds by formula were wholly without merit.

“That was something I asked myself immediately,” he said. “But I am not a lawyer. So I asked, and I got a very specific answer on that question and am fully convinced that the commission is free to use its discretion to award these … funds. We’re violating neither the spirit nor the letter of the law.”

Still, Morris was not alone in arguing that the department should award more of its funds — whether derived from taxes or borrowing — by a formula that shifts to local planning agencies like the Regional Transportation Council the discretion to decide which projects get built. Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has vowed to renew legislative efforts in 2011 to would strip TxDOT of much of its discretionary role.

Several lawmakers present today, however, said they’d fight hard to keep the transportation department strong, arguing that Texas needs an entity charged with creating a statewide approach to setting priorities.

Commissioner Ted Houghton of El Paso noted that it would take decades to find the funds to widen Interstate 35 if all of the funds made available by the Legislature were awarded by existing formulas.

Pol. Adv. Pd. For by the Joe Jaynes Campaign