Hunt County Transportation Plan to be recognized by TxDOT | Local News

WD “Dee” Hilton of Greenville, who is helping to shape future transportation projects across Hunt County, will be recognized for his efforts at an event this coming week in Austin.

“I have been asked to appear at a TxDOT Forum meeting to receive an award for Hunt County for its transportation initiatives,” said Hilton, chairman of the Hunt County Transportation Committee.

Hilton is set to be recognized during the 2023 Texas Transportation Forum, which will be Sunday through Tuesday. The annual “We Build Texas Project Awards” ceremony is scheduled to be presented Monday afternoon and will include comments from Duane Milligan, director of the construction division at TxDOT and Marisabel Ramthun, director of TxDOT’s design division.

Hilton has been a co-chair of the county’s transportation committee since its inception. The panel is comprised of government and business leaders from the county and the cities of Greenville, Commerce, Quinlan, Caddo Mills and Royse City.

In October 2009, Hunt County became a member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments’ Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). The MPO consists of 12 counties in which the NCTCOG assists in the development of transportation plans.

The Hunt County Transportation Committee was formed in Oct. 2009 by the Hunt County Commissioners Court to provide information to the NCTCOG and governing entities in order to identify future transportation needs, taking into account demographic and employment data, how the county’s transportation plans could interconnect with those of neighboring counties, and how transportation patterns coming from Hunt County influence regional transportation.

The committee helped oversee projects undertaken under a $24 million road bond package approved by Hunt County voters in November 2016. The local funding has been supplemented by state and federal highway funds for a total leveraged amount of available and anticipated funding of more than $260 million.

Hilton has also been an ardent proponent of the plan, and has spoken to multiple agencies across the county about the progress of the program.

According to previous comments by Hilton, the plan, which is expected to begin about 2026, calls for widening Interstate 30 from four to six lanes through Hunt County. Before that happens, multiple interchanges along I-30 — at FM 1570, FM 1903 and FM 36 — will need to be rebuilt.

There is also a plan to extend FM 1903/FM 36 to join with FM 6 just west of Caddo Mills to create a regional road that will give access from the Wylie, Nevada and Josephine area all the way to Interstate 30.