New Texas City substation to provide west side with faster service

TEXAS CITY - A new fire station and police substation on the city’s west side is just weeks from completion and should provide faster emergency responses to the fastest growing part of the city.

“We’re a month or so out,” Texas City Fire Chief David Zacherl said. “It’ll house an engine, an ambulance and a ladder truck.”

Fire Station 4, 5721 Lago Mar Blvd., is on the west side of Interstate 45 in the Lago Mar subdivision, near Tanger Outlets, a Buc-ee’s gas station and the 300-unit Catalon at Lago Mar Apartments.

Developers are eyeing other nearby tracts for even more residential and commercial development.

“It will significantly reduce response times to the west side of I-45, which is the whole purpose of why we picked that spot,” Zacherl said.

The closest station is Station 3 on Amburn Road, he said.

“Under ideal conditions, that trip would be 12 to 15 minutes,” Zacherl said.

And with construction on I-45, vehicles from Station 3 sometimes must travel north on the freeway to FM 517 in Dickinson, about 2 miles in the wrong direction, to loop around and return along the southbound frontage road, which adds time, he said.

“There are some hindrances,” Zacherl said.

Station 4 also will enhance police response, he said.

“It’s unique in that it will also have a police department substation with it,” Zacherl said.

The $11 million station complex is on schedule for completion, Zacherl said.

“It was approved in October last year and we started in November, so it’s been a little under a year,” he said.

The station eventually will have all new equipment.

“The trucks are a little behind of schedule but we have reserve units we can use,” Zacherl said. “As soon as we can get in, we’re going to get in.”

The substation will house 18 firefighters, with six working three shifts each.

The idea for having a substation had been kicked around for some time, Zacherl said.

“We were watching our run numbers and the growth of the west side and knew we were going to have to move out there,” he said. “It was just a matter of when.”

Texas City Police spokesman Tim Herd said his department had noticed similar trends.

“With the growth of that part of our community, there was a need for a substation,” he said.

Texas City also has a police substation at Mainland City Centre, 1000 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway, which also is on the east side of I-45 near FM 1764.

The new substation will be useful because it will provide officers a nearby place to work on reports and take care of other work, Herd said.

“If a complainant needs it, we have a secure area on the west side of the freeway where we can take them,” he said.

The department will start using the new substation by the early part of 2024, Herd said.

“As things continue to grow on the west side of the community, we’ll start manning the new substation, with volunteers, like our Citizen’s Police Academy alumni,” he said.

“We’ll also be able to have meetings with the community instead of having people come all the way in here to the police department.”