An image from Google Streetview shows the gate leading into the La Cantera neighborhood just outside the Fort Worth city limits. Tarrant County maintains the public Billings Road in the private community behind the gate.
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A public road enclosed in a private gated community in west Tarrant County has cost taxpayers despite not being accessible to the vast majority of them.
In October 2008, Tarrant County accepted responsibility for a portion of Billings Road that runs south of Confederate Park Road, ending at Orilla Lane. That quarter-mile stretch lies within the La Cantera neighborhood, which has been gated since 2003, according to longtime resident Steve Simmons.
A spokesperson for Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez of Fort Worth previously told the Star-Telegram the commissioner’s office was looking into the situation. It’s unclear why that part of Billings Road was ever made public, the spokesperson said. Ramirez took office in 2023.
According to records obtained by the Star-Telegram, Tarrant County first worked on the La Cantera section of Billings Road in 2016. That year, the county spent close to $7,000 on litter cleanup, vegetation control and pavement maintenance.
In 2017, the county spent more than $2,000 on additional pavement maintenance and litter and vegetation control, but there was no further work done until 2021. Since then, mowing, weed control and trash pickup has cost the county $1,100, and there’s been roughly $5,500 spent on pavement repairs and inspections.
All told, the portion of Billings Road behind La Cantera’s gates has cost Tarrant County taxpayers $15,746, for what is essentially a private street, used almost exclusively by La Cantera residents.
Steve Simmons is part of a lawsuit filed in 2023 against the La Cantera Homeowners’ Association alleging the community’s gate creates an unlawful barrier to Billings Road. Simmons wants the gate removed, allowing for a free flow of traffic that would benefit adjacent property owners who aren’t part of the HOA.
A representative for the La Cantera HOA’s management company declined to comment.
Ramirez’s spokesperson said the commissioner’s office is working with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office to determine why the county accepted the road into its inventory all those years ago.
“Based on how it functions today, it’s difficult to understand how it was ever designated as a public road in the first place,” read a statement from Ramirez’s office. “Quite frankly, it’s not a situation that should exist, and we share the frustration surrounding it.”
Last week, Simmons submitted a letter to County Judge Tim O’Hare and commissioners Roderick Miles, Alisa Simmons and Matt Krause asking them to intervene to rectify the Billings Road situation.
But since this is a Precinct 4 issue, the burden will likely fall on Ramirez to find a legally viable solution, which could include either making this portion of Billings Road private or compelling the La Cantera HOA to remove its gate and designate all the roads inside the neighborhood as public.
In 2024, a somewhat similar scenario went before the Supreme Court of Texas. In that case, Keenan v. Robin, a landowner accused a ranching operation of erecting fences and gates that blocked access to public roadways near a partially developed subdivision outside Amarillo. The court sided with the plaintiff, ruling that the ranching company had no right to create barriers to those roads.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Matt Adams is a news reporter covering Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding areas. He previously wrote about aviation and travel and enjoys a good weekend road trip. Matt joined the Star-Telegram in January 2025.