Media Contact: Kimberly Sims (O): 214-483-7780 I (M): 817-773-5897 ksims@35Express.org
Public Information Office: 214-483-7777 info@35Express.org www.35express.org
35EXPRESS HOSTED TREE PLANTING EVENT Community Volunteers Help Place Finishing Touches on Copperas Branch Park East
LEWISVILLE, TEXAS– The 35Express Project team hosted a community tree planting event to prepare for the reopening of Copperas Branch Park East on the shores of Lewisville Lake Saturday, March 28. The 25-acre park is located in Lewisville east of the Lewisville Lake Bridge. Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell co-hosted the event and dozens of volunteers from Keep Lewisville Beautiful, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas and students from the University of North Texas’ Big Event planted nearly 200 trees in the park. The 35Express crews removed undesirable or invasive trees and shrubs earlier this year as a part of the environmental mitigation plan for the construction project and will plant more than 1,200 native or adaptive trees in the park. The improvements to the park include a new trailhead, one-mile walking trail and an improved parking lot. The City of Lewisville will continue to operate and maintain the park once it is reopened to the public later this spring. This work is part of the Environmental Mitigation Plan implemented by AGL Constructors in conjunction with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The plan is an effort to alleviate and address the impacts of construction on the natural environment by evaluating the affected areas and determining how natural resources can be preserved, restored or enhanced. “The public sees the work that goes into the roadway expansion, but not always the effort that goes into protecting and mitigating environmental resources,” said AGL Environmental Compliance Manager Eric Huff. “The mitigation at Copperas Branch Park East will provide high-quality woodlands and native grassland restoration, and is an example of the environmental management efforts that is an integral part of this project.” Copperas Branch Park East is one of four parks being improved as part of the 35Express Project. Arrowhead Park (Hickory Creek), Copperas Branch Park (Lewisville), and Highland Lakes (Highland Village), are scheduled to be completed and re-opened by the end of the project in mid-2017. The 35Express project is approximately 30- miles long and stretches from U.S. Highway 380 in Denton County to I-635 in Dallas County. AGL Constructors, a joint venture between Archer Western Contractors L.L.C., Granite Construction Incorporated and the Lane Construction Corporation in partnership with the design team of Parsons and HDR Inc., manages construction of the 35Express Project for the Texas Department of Transportation. AGL is a North Texas-based team that has a vested interest in providing the community with improved mobility while minimizing disruption during construction. For more information on the 35Express Project, visit www.35Express.org, or call 214-483-7777. Event photos available upon request. ###