South Fort Worth is getting its first progressive design-build transportation project, a nearly mile-long road extension that will vault over active Union Pacific Railroad tracks on a 750-foot bridge. The $42 million Everman Parkway Extension also includes a multilane roundabout, multiuse trails and ADA-compliant crosswalk signals, with completion anticipated in mid-2027.
The project traces back to the City of Fort Worth’s 2022 bond program, which incorporated the extension before the city’s Transportation & Public Works Department formally announced the project in 2024, according to Burns & McDonnell. Burns & McDonnell submitted the initial proposal as the only team serving as an integrated design-builder, and ultimately secured the work, per the same account. The firm is delivering the project as a $42 million greenfield extension of Everman Parkway in southern Fort Worth, according to the company’s project page.
As Construction Owners reports, the extension is intended as an initial step in Fort Worth’s broader effort to address roughly 200 remaining railroad crossings across the city, where rail operations have forced motorists onto longer routes. The new parkway is designed to connect residential neighborhoods with the Everman industrial corridor, adding both a roadway and a pedestrian connection across the rail corridor itself.
A Faster Path From Contract to Groundbreaking
Progressive design-build brings design and construction teams together from the outset, rather than keeping those phases separate as in traditional design-bid-build contracting. That structure let engineering decisions, construction sequencing and field conditions be considered collaboratively, and the project reportedly achieved groundbreaking within nine months of contract execution — a pace the project page describes as a record for the city. The team also developed an initial cost estimate at nearly zero percent design to validate budget alignment, and advanced two early work packages — including tree clearing outside seasonal bat nesting windows and upgrades to existing clay sanitary sewer lines — ahead of final design completion…