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2024 bond program update: 33 Renew Street projects in flight; water and sewer bond work to begin next year
Summary
City engineers and the program manager reported that 33 street projects are active (26 in design) under the 2024 bond program, with some projects moving to bid or construction; city staff also outlined water and sewer bond projects planned to start next year and asked council to appropriate first-year debt-service payments.
City engineers and the bond program manager updated the Planning and Infrastructure GIS Committee on the 2024 bond-funded Renew Street program and related water and sewer projects, saying 33 projects are active, most in design, and that several water and sewer bond projects should move to construction next year.
Marcus Bonton, the program delivery lead for the Renew Street portfolio, told the committee Renew has 33 projects “in flight,” 26 of which are in design at varying stages. He said some designs are at 90–100% and are preparing for advertisement — examples include Curtis Lane and Lakeshore Drive (design complete, start expected within three to six months) and Stoner Avenue (design complete; bids opening). Pines Road was cited as 100% complete and is being routed to advertisement. Strathmore Drive is in construction and will provide the program’s initial visible work.
Bonton said six additional projects are planned for the next wave after another bond sale; he listed Canal Boulevard, Financial Plaza, Valley View, Juela Avenue, Brush Bayou ditch improvements and a group of traffic-signal installations. Monkhouse Drive is in a 30% conceptual stage with three alternatives under review; Linwood Bridge is in early design and requires railroad coordination.
Committee members asked why design is required for resurfacing-type projects; Bonton and David Smith, City of Shreveport city engineer, said most work is full-depth reconstruction that requires full engineering plans, and staff are pressing consultants to expedite design where feasible. Council members asked for a regular, shareable update and a project-phase list for each council district; staff agreed to provide written updates on project phases and schedules.
On water and sewer, City staff said about $20 million in water-plant bond projects are planned, with roughly $10 million expected to begin construction next summer (including a deep replacement water line and a new intake design expected to be advertised after designs are complete). For sewer, staff described roughly $9 million of bond-funded lift-station work (about $4.5 million for several smaller lift stations and $4.5 million for a set of larger stations) that will be advertised and expected to start construction next year; the work is intended in part to address parts of the consent-decree obligations by reducing overflows.
Staff and the committee emphasized coordination across streets and utility projects so paving is not followed by later utility digs: Burns & McDonnell (program manager for parts of the program) is identifying utility conflicts so projects without conflicts can move forward earlier. The administration also asked the council to appropriate debt-service payments that were not included in the adopted budget because bond sale timing was unknown; the ordinance pending before council would appropriate about $3.6 million to cover initial debt-service payments on recent bond sales.
No formal votes were taken at the committee meeting on bond projects; staff committed to provide project lists, designs-complete counts and schedules to council members.
