Growth is coming to Bryan-College Station, and to keep up with it, officials believe a bigger highway is needed.

As a result, work began in December on an 11.5-mile stretch of State Hwy. 6—titled the SH 6 Central BCS Expansion, or better known as the Big 6—that will see the highway expanded to three lanes on each side.

What you need to know: Work began in December and is expected to run through 2030 across all three phases, said Dan Rudge, executive director of the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization, which oversees a variety of transportation projects in the area.

The cost: TxDOT awarded a $671 million contract to global engineering firm Fluor Heavy Civil LLC in March last year.

How we got here: Momentum for the project began in 2018 when officials began gathering data and information on the current roadway. Officials held the first meeting in 2019 and a second in May 2021.

Stay tuned: Work has begun on the project, along with regular closures, according to TxDOT’s website centered around the construction.

Bryan-College Station is getting a Sprouts Farmers Market, and officials said they expect it to open in the fall.

The full story: Construction on the project was slated to begin Jan. 19, but officials were unable to provide an update on where things stood as of mid-February, Sprouts spokesperson Mychael Ramirez said in a Feb. 11 email. 

What else: Sprouts is a national grocery store that specializes in organic foods with hundreds of locations across the country, according to its website. It has over 60 locations in Texas.

Quote of note: “We’re excited to open a new Sprouts Farmers Market location in College Station and growing our presence in Texas,” Ramirez said in the email.

• 1913 Texas Ave. S., College Station

Emergency response coordination across the city of Bryan and Brazos County is set for a major upgrade after Bryan City Council approved a partnership with county officials and area emergency services districts, or ESD, to implement a shared dispatching platform at its Feb. 10 meeting.

What you need to know: The council approved the purchase of CentralSquare’s Enterprise computer-aided dispatch, or CAD, which is a mission-critical public safety dispatch system used by 911 centers to manage emergency response for police, fire and EMS agencies, according to the system’s website.

CentralSquare Enterprise CAD “is currently used by peer agencies in Texas and aligns with regional dispatching needs,” according to city documents.

More details: This new system will replace the Tiburon/Tretech CAD system, which was originally implemented in 2003 and is no longer sold, documents show.

The cost: While the five-year purchase agreement will cost over $1.3 million, the city of Bryan will only pay around $775,000 through its general fund after around $530,000 in reimbursement deductions from Brazos County and ESDs, according to city documents.

Weight equipment at College Station High School and A&M Consolidated High School, along with equipment for new career and technology programs, are among the purchases that will be considered by College Station ISD’s board of trustees at its Feb. 17 meeting.

In a nutshell: According to board agenda documents, trustees will consider the following purchases:

•$535.4K: purchase of classroom furniture for Rock Prairie Elementary
•$480K: equipment and installation for the new CTE welding and agricultural mechanics program
•$268.7K: equipment and installation for the new CTE cosmetology program
•$215.3K: weight equipment for additional weight rooms at College Station High School and A&M Consolidated High School, along with more weight equipment at A&M Consolidated High School’s upgraded fieldhouse
•$192K: equipment and installation for the new CTE facility automotive program
•$26K: equipment and installation for the new CTE construction program

Looking ahead: If approved, the purchases will be funded through 2021, 2023 and 2024 bond programs, according to board agenda documents.

Two Republican candidates are running for Brazos County judge in the upcoming March primaries.

The gist: Candidates Kyle Kacal and Mike Southerland will compete for the Republican nomination in the March 3 primary election. Last fall, Judge Duane Peters announced he would not seek reelection for his position, according to a Sept. 29 news release from Brazos County.

The winner of the Republican primary will be unopposed in the Nov. 5 general election as no candidate has filed for the Democratic primary, according to the secretary of state website.

The details: Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.