By Kris Smith
Navarro County Commissioner Jason Grant has spent the summer preparing for the rainy fall and upcoming winter season by addressing drainage issues throughout precinct 1.
His biggest project, located on NW CR 1250, commonly known as Emhouse Road. This road has been a problem for commissioners for a few decades. Commissioner Grant stated in an in-office interview with The NavCo Chronicle, “This year alone, I-45 has been shut down for accidents or TxDOT construction more than 25 times. When these shutdowns occur, GPS will re-route hundreds of cars and 18-wheelers down Emhouse Road.”
Grant’s major concern is the area known as ‘Low Water Crossing’ on Emhouse Road. The crossing routinely floods during heavy rain, making this a dangerous situation. Grant, along with the assistance of NCOEM Coordinator Eric Meyers and State Representative Cody Harris have met with TxDOT and were able to enroll the LWC into the state’s bridge program, which makes it eligible for re-construction. Grant said, “This is a big win for precinct 1. Of course, the ultimate goal is to have TxDOT take over NW 1250 from FM 1126 to Ellis County.” Rep. Harris toured the area with Grant and agreed to help with this endeavor.
Commissioner Grant also just completed a major project with the City of Rice, saving the small town a lot of money. Grant stated, “It was a bad drainage issue in an ‘S’ Curve where NW 0160 and Fannin Street meet.
The road would flood and cause issues for drivers as well as the school bus.” With the ditch work and the installation of four large culverts, the problem has been fixed, according to Commissioner Grant. The project required two large culverts and built the road up to redirect drainage in that area. Grant stated, “It was put to the test the very next day because it rained 8 inches.”
Grant has met with the BNSF Railroad to address yet another flooding issue on NW 1090. The tracks function as a dam causing the area to flood. BNSF is working to unstop some of their culverts under the tracks and possibly do some right of way ditch work to help correct the problem, according to Grant.
We also just completed a culvert installation for the City of Barry.
Commissioners now have the assistance of a law enforcement officer to address illegal dumping that has plagued precinct 1 as well as other parts of the county and will also assist with environmental issues and planning and zoning violations.
Grant stated, “Commissioners are also looking to purchase a piece of equipment that was recently demo ’ed to us. This unit can take old roads and grind up the material where it can be re-laid. It looks very promising for some of our older roads. We have roads that the county took over years ago that were not built to county specs.”
Commissioner Grant stated, “So as you can see, we are very busy. But heck we always are.”
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