Abilene street board approves four 2026 paving projects, including College Heights and Barrow Street

At a meeting of the Street Maintenance Advisory Appeals Board in Abilene, members voted unanimously to approve four street projects and a preventive-maintenance contingency from roughly $7.5 million in available funds.

The board approved full-depth work on College Heights (Work Zone 9) with an estimated cost of about $2.4 million; a preventive maintenance package for the Soda District downtown at about $1.1 million; a linear/collector project on 20 Fifth Street from Ross to Buffalo Gap (estimated about $330,000); and Barrow Street from South Second to South Eleventh at an estimated $3.7 million. The board also approved a contingency preventive-maintenance item for Lone Star. The motion was made by Brock, seconded by Branson, and carried on a roll call with all members voting yes.

Why this matters: city staff said the committee’s candidate list totals roughly $110 million while the program has about $7 million to $7.5 million to spend this cycle, forcing prioritization between neighborhood rebuilds, collector…