Street Improvement EDC previews five‑year street and sidewalk plan after new pavement assessment

The Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation heard an overview of a new pavement management approach and a first‑time, citywide sidewalk assessment on March 3, 2026, and staff said the results will feed a five‑year capital improvement plan the board expects to adopt in July.

City Engineer Mara Quad said the pavement condition index (PCI) helps the city target preventive maintenance such as crack sealing and surface treatments before pavement reaches a critical failure point. “So when we allow the street to reach that critical point, the only option would be full reconstruction, which is very expensive,” Quad said, arguing early, data‑driven intervention lowers life‑cycle costs and preserves safety.

Quad told the board the city contracted IMS to collect street and sidewalk data using LiDAR, high‑resolution cameras and GPS; IMS will deliver a GIS dashboard, shapefiles and spreadsheets. Quad said the city’s GIS coordinator will attempt to replicate the consultant’s dashboard in‑house so staff and the public can query PCI scores without recurring hosting fees, though she cautioned the city has only one GIS staffer and called the one‑year replication timeline ambitious.

Quad reviewed near‑term projects tied to the assessment. Parkwood Drive is the closest to completion: a two‑lane concrete street with parallel parking, sidewalks and landscaping at an estimated construction cost of $2,992,012 and currently about 95% complete; final sidewalks await utility pole relocation, with concrete pours expected in two to four weeks. The Gregory and Bedford Court addition was awarded in January, will replace an aging center sewer line and reconstruct pavement with a construction estimate of $4,174,360; work was described as 0% complete pending start. Brown Trail was described as a full road reconstruction with sidewalks on both sides, design reported at about 60–80% complete, an estimated construction cost of $6,020,551 and easement acquisition identified as a gating issue; Quad said construction would likely take 18–24 months once underway.

Wayne Pine, director of public works, summarized recent rehabilitation done under an interlocal agreement (ILA) with Tarrant County and described this budget cycle’s emphasis on mill‑and‑overlay work rather than a citywide HA‑5 sealant program. Pine also described a planned traffic monitoring upgrade — a Glance Video display that uses existing cameras to improve incident response without new fiber — and said one phase of sign replacements (125 street-name blades) and about 21,000 linear feet of pavement markings were completed last year.

Council members asked several operational questions: how missing sidewalk segments will be defined and used in a connectivity plan, whether the GIS coordinator could replicate the consultant dashboard, the status of traffic‑ordinance updates and how long large reconstructions will take. Quad said the sidewalk assessment flags missing segments in a GIS layer and staff expects a connectivity and ADA transition plan to accompany the July presentation. Pine said traffic‑ordinance revisions remain on his long list of tasks and that signal timing or new signals for specific intersections (including a planned signal connected to future development near Cheeks Burger) are several years out.

The board received the presentation for discussion; no formal vote on the overall plan occurred at the meeting. Staff said they will return with finalized assessment data and a recommended five‑year street CIP for formal adoption at the July meeting.