Lindale’s East Centennial Boulevard project remains planned for 2026 opening

LINDALE, Texas — Lindale’s East Centennial Boulevard project remains scheduled to open to traffic in 2026, according to the city’s 2025-26 budget. The road is a joint project of the City of Lindale, the Lindale Economic Development Corp. and Smith County.

The budget says the construction contract was awarded in August 2024. It describes Centennial Boulevard as a connection intended to link the area and provide another route through Lindale.

What the project is expected to do

City documents say the new connection is intended to improve east-west traffic circulation, provide an additional route through the city and support access for nearby development and businesses. Those are stated project purposes, not measured results: the available documents do not include a traffic study or an economic analysis establishing a specific reduction in congestion or a particular economic gain.

For residents, commuters and local businesses, the practical takeaway is that the city’s published schedule still points to a 2026 opening. The documents do not establish that the boulevard is open, completed or fully funded.

What is known about the timeline

The project’s construction award dates to August 2024. The city budget identifies 2026 as the year the boulevard is expected to open to traffic, but it does not give a specific opening day.

The budget also does not state the project’s final cost or current construction percentage. As a result, the available record supports the planned opening year but not a more precise assessment of how far construction has progressed.

The latest indexed 2026 City Council agenda reviewed for this report was posted July 15 for a meeting scheduled July 21. The city’s agenda and minutes archive was checked for newer municipal action, but the available search extract does not show whether the council took additional action on East Centennial Boulevard at that meeting.

Related city planning activity

Separately, Lindale’s June 2026 zoning-amendment process addressed off-street parking, landscaping and nonresidential and mixed-use uses. The Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council were identified as the responsible bodies in the public-hearing notice. The approved documents do not establish that those zoning amendments changed the boulevard’s schedule or scope.

For now, the city’s budget remains the clearest published source for the project timeline: East Centennial Boulevard was awarded for construction in August 2024 and is expected to open to traffic sometime in 2026.