City reports $483 million in active capital projects, details Custer Parkway, Glenville reconstruction and new project tracker

City capital-projects staff told the Richardson City Council the city is managing about $483 million in current capital projects across 110 separate projects and showed councilmembers a public, map-based project tracker intended to keep residents informed during construction.

Nick (Director of Capital Projects) said the city is delivering more active projects at once than at any time in its history, and that street and roadway reconstruction programs represent a large share of the work. Staff highlighted several major projects and shared status updates: - Custer Parkway: City staff said lessons from an earlier Custer section changed contracting and phasing; the contractor has committed additional resources and the project was described as staying on schedule with a target to wrap by the end of 2026. - Glenville Drive: The project reconfigures Glenville from four travel lanes to two with added bike lanes and pedestrian facilities; staff described complex utility relocations and multiple franchise-carrier conduits encountered in the corridor, which created sequencing challenges but said recent months have shown momentum. - Beltline at Hunt Branch culvert: Staff described installation of a large box culvert and praised careful phasing that minimized traffic interruptions; the project was said to be approaching completion later this year. - Water system work (25-pressure-zone project): Staff announced the new ground-storage tank and the city water line had been placed into service, and that additional pump-station and metering work for the North Texas Municipal Water District was close to finishing.

Nick outlined recurring challenges: weather and supply delays, tariff pressures on materials, and particularly the difficulty of coordinating with franchise utilities that have incomplete records or multiple, undocumented lines in older parts of town. He told the council crews rely on 811 locates, flagging, potholing at key spots and frequent coordination meetings, but said unexpected underground conditions remain a frequent source of change orders and schedule shifts.

To improve public outreach, staff emphasized a multi-channel communication strategy: mailed notices and door hangers before construction, neighborhood open houses, an active QR-code link on project signs to core.net/projects, weekly project-manager updates to keep the online tracker current and refrigerator-magnet QR handouts for residents. The site’s project pages include status, scope, cost and a project manager contact for each project.

Ending: Councilmembers thanked staff; several praised the project map and urged continued work to set realistic public expectations while the city completes major reconstructions over the next two years.