BY KATHY WILLIAMS

HERALD DEMOCRAT

North Texas Tollway Authority is holding a public hearing from 6 -7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Celina Middle School Cafeteria, 710 E. Pecan St. in Celina on a third possible route Dallas North Tollway might take as it wends its way to the Oklahoma border. This would be the most westerly of three proposed routes.

All three routes would go through a portion of Grayson County. Two possible routes discussed earlier would enter Grayson County farther to the east and angle east originally to meet State Highway 289 and from there join U.S. Highway 75 north of Denison. The western proposed Dallas North Tollway extension route, the subject of the meeting, would veer to the west into Denton County as soon as it hits FM 428. That's the end point of the portion of Dallas North Tollway currently under development. From there it would continue north and west along FM 377. Then the tollway would angle sharply north and west through Denton County.

The proposed middle route would zip straight north along the Denton-Collin county line. The most easterly route would run nearly in the middle of the space between the Denton-Collin line and SH 289.

North Texas Tollway Authority held a similar public meeting Tuesday in Pilot Point. North Texas Tollway Authority will have maps posted and engineers to explain the maps and plans during the meeting. The public is invited to look at the proposed routes and enter comments about their preferences on the routes. The comments may be oral or written. Oral comments will be recorded by a court reporter, according to a legal notice published Feb. 28 in the Herald Democrat.

Those who cannot attend the meeting, but who would like to see maps or download a form for written comments may do so by visiting www.ntta.org or send an e-mail to the corridor manager, dnt45@ntta.org. Written remarks may be sent by regular mail to: Attn: Corridor Manager, Re: DNT 4B/5A Project, NTTA, P.O. Box 260729, Plano, TX 75026.