Check out seven transportation updates for projects happening in Keller and Northeast Fort Worth.

Phase 2 of FM 1709 Landscape Enhancements Green Ribbon Project
Project: Median improvements will occur along FM 1709 from Bourland Road to Pearson Lane. Improvements include adding Texas native and adaptive plants, decomposed granite and river rock mulch.
Update: The project was approved at the Dec. 2 Keller City Council meeting

• Timeline: Construction will start early 2026 and last seven months
• Cost: $1.02 million
• Funding Source: city of Keller, Texas Department of Transportation

The first three houses in the Bella Casa subdivision are ready for purchase.

The details: The website for American Legend Homes shows that 12 of the 31 lots have been sold. Three newly constructed homes are now available, according to sales associate Holly Henderson. Those houses are priced at either $929,000 or $1.1 million and have four bedrooms with either 3.5 or 4.5 baths.

The background: Keller City Council first approved the 31-lot plan by rezoning the land in 2023 and approved the site plan in the spring of 2024.

Grapevine Police Chief Mike Hamlin presented a possible new detention agreement with the city of Roanoke.

What’s happening? During the Dec. 2 Grapevine City Council meeting, the chief discussed its current detention contract with the cities of Coppell and Addison. He said that Addison, which is in the eastern part of the metroplex, will contract with another police department to house those who are arrested.

City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said council will vote for a new agreement with Roanoke during the Dec. 16 meeting.

Hamlin said the city has contracted to house arrestees from Coppell and Addison since 2022. He said the contract with Coppell will continue and Roanoke will replace Addison if the agreement is approved by council. It would start April 1, 2026, according to the presentation.

What’s next: Rumbelow said these contracts are a revenue source for the city to use portions of its detention center to help other agencies.

Texas can use its newly redrawn congressional map in the 2026 elections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Dec. 4.

The background: State lawmakers approved the new congressional boundaries this summer, after President Donald Trump asked them to produce a new map in an attempt to help Republicans maintain a narrow majority in the U.S. House, Community Impact previously reported. Texas Republicans have said they hoped the map would help the GOP secure 30 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats, up from 25 Republican-held seats today.

What's happening: The Supreme Court's ruling overturns a Nov. 18 injunction from an El Paso federal court, which deemed Texas’ redistricting plan "racially gerrymandered” and directed officials to use a 2021 congressional map instead.

“The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the Supreme Court said in the unsigned Dec. 4 order.

The order comes just four days before the Dec. 8 deadline for Texas candidates to file to run in the March primary elections.