US 87 and US 54 Reconstruction

Kennedy Consulting, Inc. (KCI), a JMT Company, completed the design of a $13-million reconstruction of two miles of US 87 and US 54 through Dalhart, TX. US 87 has been identified by Texas DOT as a major freight corridor in the Texas Panhandle, and is part of the Port-to-Plains Trade Corridor. This corridor runs from the western coast of Mexico to the Province of Alberta in Canada and includes 10 states, including Texas. The reconstruction project was adjacent to a railroad bridge reconstruction project just outside the project limits, as well as an existing Union Pacific railroad line just outside of the US 87 right-of-way.

KCI was responsible for the horizontal and vertical design, cross-street and driveway design, traffic control design, signing and pavement markings, and stormwater protection plan. Both US 87 and US 54 were to be constructed part-width, and KCI coordinated with the designer of the railroad bridge reconstruction so both projects could be maintained using separate or combined traffic control plans, giving the contractor greater flexibility. KCI also had to adjust the vertical profile for US 87 underneath the adjacent railroad bridge project to provide greater vertical clearance under the bridge.

Due to a flat existing profile on both highways, drainage design was the driving force behind much of the road design on both US 87 and US 54. KCI teamed with Bridgefarmer & Associates, Inc. (BFA) to design a cross culvert made up of five 24-inch tubes under US 87 and another cross culvert made up of three 24-inch tubes under US 54. KCI also worked with BFA to replace a closed storm sewer system under US 54 and an open-channel ditch system on US 87.

The intersection of US 87 and US 54 required design of new traffic signals, for which KCI partnered with HDR.