Lighted street-name signs proposed for seven US 380 intersections as sign costs climb $26,309

Drivers on the widened US 380 would see lighted street-name signs at seven intersections in town, including the two new overpasses, under a change order on the Town Council's Oct. 13 consent agenda.

TxDOT's traffic signals for the expansion are normally designed with standard street-name signs. According to a staff report from Development Services Director Wesley Brandon, the state gave Little Elm the option of installing illuminated ones instead, which staff say look better and keep the town's branding consistent.

The signs would go up at:

• FM 720, at the new overpass
• FM 2931
• Providence Boulevard
• Paloma Creek Boulevard
• Union Park Boulevard and Navo Road, at the new overpass
• Magnolia Boulevard
• FM 1385

Why the price went up

In September 2025 the council hired Consolidated Traffic Controls through a purchase order for the signs and other signal safety equipment. That quote assumed smaller signs. The final design needs much larger ones to fit street names, the town logo and other details required under state and federal rules, the report says, and the vendor has asked for a change order to cover the difference.

The extra work is estimated at $37,831. The original approval included an $11,572 contingency, which cuts the new money needed to $26,309. That amount was not in the 2026-27 budget, so staff would draw it from the North Roadway Impact Fee account and bring a budget amendment.

Developer to repay signal work at Oak Grove and Hill Lane

A second consent item would have a developer cover part of a traffic signal rebuild. Ridge Realty Partners, the developer of Oak Grove Commercial near Oak Grove Parkway and Hill Lane, would put about $235,656.75 into a town-controlled escrow account.

The project, which has three medical office buildings and three retail buildings, needs a driveway lined up with that intersection, and fitting it in required changes to the existing signal. Those changes were the developer's responsibility under its approved plans, staff wrote, but the town's Hill Lane expansion project is already rebuilding the signal, so the work was folded into it.

The repayment would go toward Hill Lane and related traffic improvements.

Employee health premiums

Also on consent is the yearly renewal of town employee benefits. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the town's health insurer since 2014, will raise 2027 plan year rates 12.41% after negotiations, and its dental rates will rise 5.4%. Vision, life, disability and employee assistance coverage stay flat under rate guarantees. Staff say the increases were built into the adopted budget.

Consent items are approved together in one vote unless a council member pulls one for discussion. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 100 W. Eldorado Parkway.

Sources

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