Highland Shores Boulevard Bids Open Thursday, Nov. 12 — Two Years of Construction on the Way

If you drive Highland Shores Boulevard regularly, mark your calendar and start thinking in years, not weeks. Bids for the boulevard's full reconstruction open Thursday, Nov. 12, and the city expects to hand the work to a contractor and begin construction this fall — with the project running roughly two years from there.

The stretch getting rebuilt runs from Briarhill Boulevard to Twin Coves Drive. The scope covers replacing the concrete pavement and improving drainage, pedestrian access, traffic safety, and traffic calming along that section. A second bid opens the same day for the Highland Shores Boulevard Underdrain Project — a drainage-first step that has to happen before the main rebuild can succeed. The city identified a section of the boulevard where groundwater needed to be addressed before reconstruction; the underdrain project adds buried infrastructure to capture and redirect that groundwater away from the paved surface. It is anticipated to be folded into the reconstruction project itself.

The total tab for the reconstruction is $10.2 million. Denton County is contributing a portion of that cost through the county's 2022 voter-approved bond program, covering roughly half of the construction phase.

If you were watching last month's water and wastewater news: this is a related but separate effort. FloMoBee reported in October on the city's move to issue up to $10.75 million in Certificates of Obligation for well reconstruction, line replacement, and lift station work. That's the utility side of Highland Village's infrastructure program. The boulevard rebuild is the street side, funded through its own bond and county partnership.

The design includes added sidewalks on the lakeside, widened bike lanes, and a new dedicated turn lane to improve safety and reduce mid-block U-turns.

No street-by-street construction schedule or traffic management plan has been made public yet. The city's stated approach is to focus construction on specific areas while minimizing disruptions to residents; what that looks like in practice will become clearer once a contractor is selected and a work sequence is set.

Watch highlandvillage.org for contract award news and any construction phasing details as they are posted.