A rendering of the new Brown Elementary School being built in Whitehouse, Texas. (Courtesy) 

Smith County officials are moving forward with a project to widen a portion of road that leads to a new elementary school in Whitehouse.

Three members of the Smith County Commissioners Court gave their approval to the county’s purchasing staff to start seeking bids on the project.

County Judge Nathaniel Moran, Precinct 1 Commissioner Jeff Warr and Precinct 4 Commissioner JoAnn Hampton attended the meeting. The meeting was brief because only three members were present, Moran said.

The project will widen a quarter-mile of County Road 2191, also known as Oscar Burkett Road, that leads to the new Brown Elementary School the Whitehouse Independent School District is building, according to Frank Davis, the Smith County engineer.

“This is the main entry and exit for that school, and so right now it’s a small county road, so we’re widening that,” Davis said. He said the county would put in a new curb and gutter.

Davis said the county is seeking bids on the county’s portion of the road, and Whitehouse ISD is doing work on pavement in front of the school. He said the county’s portion would cost about $600,000, depending on bids.

The money is not part of the $39.5 million road bond package that voters approved in November, according to Davis. The Smith County Commissioners Court set aside the money for this project and a handful of others near Whitehouse schools as part of its annual budget process, Davis said.

Another project involves an overlay and reconstruction on a different section of County Road 2191, he said, but the road widening project needs to be done by Aug. 15, when the school is set to open.

“If we don’t do something about the road there’s gonna be a real traffic issue,” Moran, the Smith County judge, said. “It’s a real narrow road, (and) once you put a school in there you’re going to have all kinds of new traffic, so the improvements are necessary for safety, for traffic flow, for every reason you can think of.”

Moran said the court set aside the money as part of a special projects fund during last year’s budget process. He said the county is partnering with the school district on road construction costs.

Moran said the county is planning to work on similar projects with Lindale ISD using money from the $39.5 million road bond package.

“Schools, generally, were a big aspect of the need for the bond proposals,” Moran said.

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