Brown County Commissioners approved a resolution Monday to contribute funds to help Texas Department of Transportation rebuild the Fort Worth & Western Railway overpass on U.S. Highway 183/84 southeast of Early.

County Judge Ray West stated that it was a “project that has been long needed.”

According to TxDOT Brownwood District Director of Transportation Planning and Development Jason Scantling, the overpass has had some “serious safety concerns.”

“For quite some time there have been some serious safety concerns, the roadway narrows from four lanes to two lanes and then back to four, and we have low overhead clearance of 14 feet 4 inches.”

Scantling described the project, stating that the railroad structure will be rebuilt to a higher overhead clearance of 16 feet 9 inches (although signage will show 16’ 6”) and that the pavement of the roadway will be widened through the railway overpass to accommodate two lanes in each direction.

A temporary “shoo-fly” railway structure will be constructed southeast of the current overpass, allowing trains to pass over the highway while the new overpass structure is being built.  This will be just built adjacent 8 feet from the existing overpass structure according to Scantling.  Once complete, the shoo-fly structure will be removed and rail traffic will be routed back to the newly constructed railway overpass.

The project will cost approximately $10.5 million to complete with Brown County funding $2288.20 for right of way acquisitions.  Scantling stated the majority of that expense will be to remove and reconstruct fencing as the project is completed.

“This is a small price to pay for that construction because there have been multiple accidents there,” said Judge West.

Scantling explained the timeframe of the estimated 20 month project.  He stated that the project will be let in May and will require 3 months for manufacturing of materials needed for the project.  Then in June the contract will be signed, allowing work to begin in August or September of this year.

In other matters on Monday’s agenda:

*Commissioners took no action on implementing a burn ban due to current weather conditions and precipitation.

*Commissioners approved declaration of old voting equipment as surplus in order to allow the sale of the outdated equipment.  According to Elections Administrator Suzy Young, the equipment includes 27 M100 voting machines, 20 AutoMARK voting assistance machines, and 492 voting booths.

*Commissioner Joel Kelton of Precinct 2 received approval of an application by Roberts & Petty to install a private line on County Road 120.  The installation will include a roadway bore to county specifications on CR 120 near the intersection of CR 118 according to Kelton.