lake\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> asking visitors to follow \u201cRoad Closed\u201d signs.<\/p>\n\u201cWe just got started 30 days ago and people aren\u2019t quite used to not being able to come down here and fish yet,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cThis is a really popular area on the lake for fishing and the nature trail. And until the end of the year, until we get done moving the dirt for the dam project, we just need everybody to avoid this area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Construction on McMillan Dam has begun after a lengthy engineering and bidding process. Lubbock County received $8 million in ARPA funding to widen and update the dam.<\/p>\n
\u201c$8 million to our little community is a big deal,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have been able to afford to fix, to do this preemptive repair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thornton said that for the next few months, about 100 trucks a day will move 70,000 cubic yards of dirt from a borrow pit to the dam.<\/p>\n
He said the closure is about safety because crews are using large trucks, excavators, dozers and loaders in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you just don\u2019t see a little car or people,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cAnd the main thing is we just don\u2019t want anybody to get hurt. They don\u2019t want anybody to get hurt. It\u2019s a safety thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the dam project is being funded through the government, Thornton said higher admission fees are paying for other recent upgrades.<\/p>\n
Thornton said the lake\u2019s $20 daily admission fee has helped keep workers paid, revamp the marina, reinforce shorelines, pave roads and clear out cattails. Visitors can access the marina after 5 p.m. for only $5 on weekdays.<\/p>\n
Thronton hopes visitors will enjoy other parts of the lake while the area by the dam is blocked off.<\/p>\n
The lake\u2019s fireworks show is scheduled for July 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to be the biggest ones we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cThe lake\u2019s clean. It\u2019s ready. And it\u2019s safe. And it\u2019s going to be a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A portion of Buffalo Springs Lake is off-limits to visitors while construction crews work…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[124181,12632,7990,124178,12506,270,1494,5715,81751,5893,7337,53017,14354,39607,124182,666,66220,73612,3811,18367,26736,168,170,169,73262,124179,9257,121220,9223,40888,3174,8801,124180],"class_list":["post-348078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-admissoin","tag-arpa","tag-brittany-crittenden","tag-buffalo-springs","tag-closed","tag-closure","tag-construction","tag-crews","tag-dam","tag-facebook","tag-federal","tag-fee","tag-fireworks","tag-fishing","tag-fourth","tag-funding","tag-gate","tag-greg-thornton","tag-july","tag-lake","tag-limit","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-manager","tag-mcmillan","tag-nature-trail","tag-portion","tag-project","tag-repair","tag-road","tag-show","tag-upgrade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}