Taylor council approves $2.66 million street-maintenance contract; residents object to removing Mallard Lane bike lanes

Taylor’s City Council voted March 13 to award the 2024 Street Maintenance Project to Texas Road LLC for a total contract amount of $2,658,771.54, including the base bid and two alternate items. The council also approved a third-party materials-testing contract with Robert Kisner Consultants Inc. and a construction-administration task order with HDR Engineering Inc. for the same project.

The council’s construction award includes pavement reclamation, microsurfacing and restriping work across several corridors (T.H. Johnson Drive, Lake Drive, Mallard Lane, Bill Pickett Trail and others). Staff presented a construction schedule running from April through November with a 210-day completion schedule and said most heavy paving will occur in warm-weather months. Each bid included an owner contingency of $150,000 to cover unforeseen field conditions.

Mister Walker (staff) summarized project scope and said the city had budgeted $3,150,000 for construction; the recommended low-bid package (base bid plus alternates 1 and 2) totaled $2,658,771.54, leaving about $400,000 under budget from the previous bond. Walker said the low bidder, Texas Road, had worked on the 2022 street project and city staff called references in Cedar Park and San Marcos with positive feedback.

Several Mallard Lane residents urged the council to retain bike lanes on that street rather than rip them out. Gail Samuels, a resident, said she was “very concerned about this as safety issues” and argued bike lanes help protect bicyclists and pedestrians and encourage local shopping. Lisa Drummond told the council that removing bike lanes would be “a huge waste of money and also kind of an invitation for liability,” saying bike lanes slow traffic and make streets safer. Monica Savala, who said she lives on Mallard Lane, asked the council to “consider putting something in place that works for both cyclists and for the residents on Mallard Lane.”

City staff described options for removing painted bike-lane markings and physical buttons and warned about tradeoffs. Staff said painting over stripes is short-lived and sand- or water-blasting can accelerate pavement degradation on asphalt; removing striping may leave visible scarring in some materials. Staff recommended full restriping as the most durable approach and noted there will be localized pavement scarring where lane-marking buttons are removed.

After discussion, Councilmember Shelley Cobb moved and Councilmember Anderson seconded a motion to award the contract to Texas Road LLC for the full recommended package (base bid and alternates 1 and 2). The motion passed 4–1. One council member voted against the award; the meeting transcript did not record a name with that negative tally.

Two related contracts were then approved: - A materials engineering and testing contract with Robert Kisner Consultants Inc. for about $32,065 to provide third-party testing of asphalt and concrete during construction. Staff said this is roughly 1% of the construction contract and is a standard testing allowance. The motion to approve the Kisner contract was made by Councilmember Anderson, seconded and carried unanimously. - Task Order 65 with HDR Engineering Inc. for construction administration and inspection services on the project at $195,955. Staff described the task order as necessary to administer the contract and perform inspection. That motion, also moved by Anderson and seconded, passed unanimously.

Public commenters expressed both safety and fiscal concerns. One resident noted the work would require removing parking and said the city should weigh that cost against other needs; another asked whether the city could pursue lower-cost options to remove bike-lane markings. Staff said cheaper options exist but carry tradeoffs in durability and potential pavement damage.

The city manager or the manager’s designee was authorized to execute the contract documents. Work will proceed with communications to neighborhoods and coordination during summer school zones and other high-traffic periods.