Month: January 2024

Looking for a way to connect to the Van Alstyne community?

The City of Van Alstyne has many sponsorship opportunities to make some of the BEST activities in the area possible! Some annual events that have open sponsorships for 2024 are the Sounds of Summer Concert series, Splash Bash, Movie in the Park, and Fall Der All.

In addition to these community favorites, exciting new events have been added including the Shop and Sample Saturdays, Downtown Palentines, Margarita Crawl, Cornhole Tournaments, a Salsa and Queso Showdown, Downtown Trick or Treating, Holiday Hangout and the Holiday Decorating contest.

In years prior, these events have attracted thousands of attendees and incredible vendors. With the immense growth in the area and the incredibly successful track record of these events, those attendance numbers are expected to increase dramatically this year and in years to come.

Follow the Van Alstyne Parks and Recreation Facebook page for event updates. And for more information on how to be a sponsor for any of the Van Alstyne Events, please call or email Kandi Hessel, 430-262-9439, khessel@cityofvanalstyne.us.

There are many road projects actively taking place, and planned for the near future.  The City of Van Alstyne has a extensive plan for improving roads through out Van Alstyne, but we are not the only jurisdiction taking care of the roads we all drive on.  Many roads we use here are the responsibility of Grayson County or Texas Department of Transportation as well.  TXDoT has some major projects being worked on this year and here are those project summaries:

FM 121 Rehabilitation Project

Lincoln Park to 160 – taking it from 24’ wide to 26’ wide and recapturing some right of way from overgrowth. 1 mile is completed now and the second mile is in progress now. The overall project is expected to be complete in January 2026.

US 75 from Collin County Line to FM 1417

The purpose of the project is to add capacity, improve traffic operations by converting frontage roads from two-way to one-way operation, provide frontage road turn around opportunities, and ramp improvements along US 75. The proposed project is 14 miles from Collin County Line to FM 1417 and widens US 75 from two main lanes to three main lanes in each direction.

Replacement of the overpass at County Line Road / Panther Parkway

1 over pass at FM 121/Van Alstyne Pkwy – the existing bridge will not be replaced with the initial project. TXDoT is rebuilding the intersection with concrete pavement with this project.

1 new overpass about a mile north of Van Alstyne Pkwy by Simmons Loop

Reconstruction or modification of existing ramps, where applicable, to support the lane widening and frontage road conversion. Frontage roads will be repaved and restriped for one way conversion.

Construction for this project is expected to begin in early 2025.  This will be a 2-3 year project.

See initial schematics and plans for this project here and fact sheet here.

FM 3133

This summer, FM 3133 will have maintenance touch up and get a seal coat surface similar to what was done on state Hwy 5 north of the High School.

This map shows the ownership of the roads in and around Van Alstyne. And for contact instructions for road issues, please see below.

For City of Van Alstyne, contact City Hall – 903-482-5426 or for more detailed options, check out our Report A Problem page here.

TXDoT roads, you may report an issue here.  For road conditions requiring immediate attention, call 800-558-9368

Grayson County Roadways Facilities Maintenance Office may be contacted here, or you may contact your county commissioner as well.  Precinct 1 County Commission page is here.

Crystal DeBacker
Media Coordinator
City of Van Alstyne

cdebacker@cityofvanalstyne.us
903-357-1088

Did you know Van Alstyne has had an incredible, local college since 2004?  Grayson College South Campus is located on the West side of Van Alstyne, right in front of the new Van Alstyne High School that will open in 2024.

Something that makes this college campus so special, is you do not have to be a full time college student to take classes and benefit from the incredible offerings.  Grayson College South Campus is now offering community education courses with a series of lectures on the history of Grayson County and Van Alstyne, American Heart Association courses and evening Welding courses as well. January 23rd kicks off the new lecture series on the history of Van Alstyne and Grayson County with a lecture on Random Histories of Grayson County. Review and sign up for these programs on the programs registration page here.

Explore all Grayson County South Campus programs, services and more here.

Did you move here because of the incredible reputation of the school district? If you are, you are one of many who sought out living in Van Alstyne because of the wonderful school district.  One aspect that makes VAISD so special is the Van Alstyne Education Foundation.  It is an organization that is most well-known for senior scholarships and teacher grants, awarding nearly $700,000 since its creation in 2012 including over half a million endowment.

Annual community fundraising events include the Sporting Clay Shoot, the Little Big Town 5k and Family Fun Run, and their Gala coming up on February 22nd.  However you do not have to wait for one of these events. To contribute to this remarkable foundation now, you can donate any amount here.

An interesting fact that was shared with my by VAEF board members is many of the donors on the teachers themselves.

Find out more about the Van Alstyne Education Foundation and how you can get involved on their website here.

Crystal DeBacker
Media Coordinator
City of Van Alstyne

cdebacker@cityofvanalstyne.us
903-357-1088