{"id":59547,"date":"2025-11-21T17:45:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T17:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/59547\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T17:45:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T17:45:10","slug":"why-is-there-so-much-construction-on-planos-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/59547\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is there so much construction on Plano\u2019s roads?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orange traffic cones have become so prolific on Plano\u2019s roads<\/a>, Mayor John Muns joked in an address to the city in 2024 that they\u2019re considering designating them as the city\u2019s official flower. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe hard truth is that the first step to revitalization<\/a> begins with infrastructure<\/a>,\u201d Muns said in his speech. \u201cIt\u2019s a delicate balance for a city to keep things moving<\/a> while improving aging assets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents are familiar with the ongoing closures and construction clogging Plano\u2019s roads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ann Boles lives in central Plano and noticed an uptick in road repairs starting around 2021. Her commute to work in east Plano takes two or three times as long as it used to, she said. <\/p>\n

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\"Construction<\/p>\n

Construction in front of a Home Depot on Parker Road in Plano on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is just a mess,\u201d Boles said. \u201cIt just feels like there\u2019s really no place to drive in Plano that doesn\u2019t have construction. \u2026 It just never seems to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a population and economic boom<\/a> over several decades, the city is nearly built out, and development efforts have turned to redevelopment<\/a> \u2014 much of which is playing out on the city\u2019s streets. <\/p>\n

Concrete roads have a lifespan of anywhere from 20 to 40 years, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The city reports over half its roads are more than 30 years old, and need maintenance to extend their useful life. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the larger roads, the Coit, the Custers, Plano Parkways \u2026 are hitting that end of life,\u201d said Caleb Thornhill, Plano\u2019s director of engineering. \u201cBecause Plano boomed<\/a> in the \u201880s and early \u201890s \u2026 that\u2019s why you\u2019ve seen a huge rise in road construction work.\u201d<\/p>\n

On average, about 10-20 major road lane miles are under construction a day through the city\u2019s public works and engineering projects \u2014 about 1% of the city\u2019s major roads<\/a>. While it\u2019s a small percentage, disruptions on major roads are more apparent to residents and more disruptive on commutes. <\/p>\n

Older sections of the city, such as its east side, have more lane closures and construction disruptions.<\/p>\n

Plano has repaired an estimated 500 miles of streets and alleys since 2019, more than 30% of the city\u2019s roads. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s expensive work<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Voters have supported bond funding<\/a> to pay for street projects for years, approving more than $700 million in bonds for street improvements<\/a> over five elections since 2013. Since 2021, the city has invested more than $305 million in infrastructure rehabilitation. Plano\u2019s five-year community investment program for 2025-2030 includes over $500 million for future road, water and sewer projects, according to city documents. <\/p>\n

In addition to repairing roads themselves, water and sewer lines underneath streets require replacement in coordination with major road repairs.<\/p>\n

When the city conducts road repairs, staff try to be strategic. They first replace underground utilities, then the concrete, then they apply an overlay in a process that can take several years. If concrete is repaired before an underground water line is replaced, fixing the utility lines could mean tearing up newly repaired roads. <\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of waiting for the water line to deteriorate under a major road,\u201d Owens said, \u201cwe\u2019re going to replace them proactively.\u201d <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The process of strategically addressing this maintenance requires years of planning. <\/p>\n

The city is also working to overlay concrete with a thin seal that protects roads from water and extends their lifetime for five to 15 years, Owens said. <\/p>\n

Over the next five years, Plano plans<\/a> to complete at least 40 miles of overlays on major roads, which delays a full road replacement that is more disruptive and expensive. About a third of the city\u2019s major roads have completed concrete repairs and asphalt overlays as of this year, according to city documents.<\/p>\n

Repairing major roads in Plano<\/a> costs $2.5 million per mile, Owens said, to replace panels of concrete then apply an overlay. Fully reconstructing the same mile costs over $15 million. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fiscally responsible<\/a> to do it this way,\u201d Owens said. <\/p>\n

Sewer and utility construction can take longer than people expect<\/a>, according to the city, with complex underground networks of utilities that require careful coordination and often are in existing, fully developed neighborhoods. <\/p>\n

\"Construction<\/p>\n

Construction along Parker Road in Plano on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Construction must still allow traffic flow, business access<\/a> and emergency routes. Weather and coordination with outside agencies \u2014 like private utility companies and the state transportation department \u2014 can also add delays. <\/p>\n

Plano\u2019s roads will always be under construction. As infrastructure ages, the city will continually maintain and replace roads, water lines and sewer systems. The orange traffic cones aren\u2019t going away anytime soon. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere may be an easing up. It\u2019ll never stop,\u201d Thornhill said. \u201cAs we continue to get these overlays down throughout the city, the majority of the work will move more into the neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orange traffic cones have become so prolific on Plano\u2019s roads, Mayor John Muns joked in an address to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[960,160,162,161,840],"class_list":{"0":"post-59547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-collin-county","9":"tag-plano","10":"tag-plano-headlines","11":"tag-plano-news","12":"tag-transportation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59547","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=59547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}