Bonham -- A large crowd filled the county courtroom at Fannin County Courthouse Monday morning to witness a presentation regarding the preferred route for FM 897, an existing thoroughfare that will be realigned to extend across the proposed Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir.

Another option would have been to reroute FM 1396 across the reservoir dam, although that would result in a far more circuitous and more expensive route.

After determining that FM 897 offered a more direct and therefore less costly option, project engineers discussed several minor variations of proposed alignments with local residents at two public meetings.

Studying feedback derived from the meetings, engineers fine tuned plans and presented a map of their findings during a regular meeting of Fannin County Commissioners Court held Monday morning.

A large crowd filled the county courtroom at Fannin County Courthouse Monday morning to witness a presentation regarding the preferred route (shown here in green) for FM 897, an existing thoroughfare that will be realigned to extend across the proposed Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir.

As this project moves forward, the preferred alternative calls for an option that leaves most of the community of Lannius intact, while meeting the county's needs for a north-south thoroughfare across the lake.

The junction of U.S. 82 and this new alignment of FM 897 would be just over 1,000 feet west of the Lannius Church of God. Plans call for the road to cross CR 2195 and then veer to the northeast until it joins an existing section of FM 897 for a little more than a mile before continuing north across the proposed reservoir. The North Texas Municipal Water District lake office will be built along FM 897 on the south side of Lower Bois d'Arc Reservoir.

An elevated pier bridge almost a mile and a half long will extend across the lake.

Fannin County Precinct 3 Commissioner Jerry Magness said no issues had surfaced in his precinct during discussions regarding the proposed alignment.

Fannin County Precinct 4 Commissioner Dean Lackey commended North Texas Municipal Water District as well as the consulting firm of Freese and Nichols for earnestly communicating with area residents as the planning process moved forward.

"It seemed they [NTMWD and Freese and Nichols] actually cared about the people," Commissioner Lackey stated. "I hear no complaints out there at all."

Lackey added that his constituents are pleased the alignment "didn't go right through Lannius."

"North Texas Municipal Water District has always said they want to be a good partner and a good neighbor,'" remarked Fannin County Judge Spanky Carter. "I think that is what they have done."