TxDOT Road Project FM2931

TxDOT turns on light in Providence

By Tatiana Ambrosio

Staff Writer

After several weeks of waiting, the commuters who travel along FM 2931 and Cape Cod Boulevard in Providence Village are able to use a recently installed traffic light.

The light went live on Nov. 12.

“It’s been up for probably a month or so,” Providence Village Town Manager Brian Roberson said. “[TxDOT] didn’t have electricity to it yet.”

It was not uncommon to find a half-mile backup of traffic consisting of many 18 wheelers traveling south on FM 2931 leading to the intersection prior. Roberson said that was often the case until the light became active.

“One thing, I have already noticed, is you don’t hear the constant grinding of the truck’s gears … when they’re trying to get started when every single one of them has to stop,” Roberson said.

Area residents have had mixed reviews about the traffic light being operational.

Silverado residents living north of the traffic light who have to travel the intersection to reach U.S. 380 have said they have not noticed much of a difference.

“We’re still trying to get used to it,” said Elsa Garza, a resident of the Silverado subdivision.

Garza and her husband are regular commuters who use the intersection. They have lived there since October 2020. She said she never saw traffic backups at the intersection but is now having to watch the time she leaves the house because it will get backed up.

“It’s got to either be before or after [7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.] because the line is not as quick,” Garza said.

She added that during that time she often has to sit through two cycles of the light before she makes it through the intersection.

On Tuesday morning, 33 vehicles, including 18 wheelers, traveled through one green light on FM 2931 during that timeframe.

Kristen Van Hooser, another resident of Silverado, said she didn’t see a great need for the light over the four-way stop but pointed out that she is not a regular commuter.

“I can see it being beneficial in the future with all the growth coming our way, though,” Van Hooser said.

Sherrie Ramos said she didn’t see the need initially.

“I didn’t think it was a busy enough intersection, but I actually love it,” said Sherrie Ramos, a resident of Providence Village.

She said she uses the intersection daily and pointed out that there have been many times people have not stopped for the four-way stop sign and almost hit them.

“The light makes us feel so much safer because we know when we get the green, nobody else has a chance to go,” Ramos said.

For Providence Village resident Darby Paini, “it hasn’t really affected us, because we use the back entrance [on Dr Sanders Road] closest to us.”

The Painis, like many residents of Providence Village, have gotten used to bypassing the intersection during the years that they have lived there. Providence Village has more than 10 other entrances in and out of the neighborhood.

Van Hooser said she thought a more important light to go in on FM 2931 is one at Fishtrap Road.

That is slated to be the next light to go in, Roberson said. However, TxDOT must expand the road at the intersection first to create two left turn lanes.

TxDOT has two different teams working on that next part. One team handles the road expansion. Another team will handle the light.

“These improvements that need to be completed are not part of the larger FM 2931 improvement project and will begin sooner. We anticipate those will begin in spring 2022,” said Emily McCann, public information officer for TxDOT, about the light at Fishtrap and FM 2931.

The larger FM 2931 project is set to eventually make the road a six-lane urban curved road. TxDOT held a virtual public meeting about the widening project in July 2020. Information about their plans can be found at keepitmovingdallas.com/FM2931.

In the meeting, residents were made aware that Phase 1 of the road expansion project will take the road from a two-lane rural road to a four-lane roadway with a raised median. This phase is set to be opened up to area contractors for the bidding process in winter of 2023.