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Council hears multi‑year street, sidewalk and drainage programs; city to procure sidewalk master plan
Summary
Staff summarized a citywide street and drainage CIP that includes Avenue A/C rehabilitations, a $10M citywide sidewalk initiative, quiet‑zone projects, and an annual roadside ditching program; staff will solicit firms for a sidewalk master plan in the coming weeks.
Streets and drainage programs were a central part of the CIP presentation, with staff outlining bond‑funded corridor rehabilitation, ongoing maintenance programs and multi‑year strategies for stormwater.
Streets staff reviewed annual sidewalk repairs and a separate $10M citywide sidewalk initiative approved by voters; projected spending is roughly $2M per year to begin implementing a sidewalk master plan. Staff said the City will issue a request for qualifications for a sidewalk master plan (procurement expected to take 60–90 days) and will prioritize schools, pedestrian generators and commercial centers while collecting community input.
Major bond‑funded street projects include rehabilitation of Avenue A and Avenue C, Carol/Carroll and Sycamore streets, Highland Avenue (including a road‑diet with dedicated bike lanes), Glattis Street resurfacing following a recent water‑line replacement, and other neighborhood and truck‑route corridors. Staff noted many of these high‑cost corridors have advanced pavement failure driven in part by heavy truck traffic.
Traffic and downtown connectivity projects reviewed included a riverfront pedestrian bridge (~$4.4M), undergrounding power at the hotel/convention center site, a Major Drive/Northwest Parkway signal with TxDOT concurrence (ongoing schedule), and multiple quiet‑zone proposals to reduce train horn impacts (projects vary and require federal approvals and possible crossing closures). On drainage, staff described an annual roadside ditching program (~$3.5M/year), storm‑sewer cleaning (~$2M/year), an asset mapping and inspection program (~$1.5M/year) and a large West Lucas Drive storm‑sewer rehabilitation (~$15M total) that addresses a ~12,000‑foot steel arch pipe.
Council asked staff to manage expectations that the bond‑funded sidewalk and street programs will not cover every need citywide, and staff emphasized the use of objective prioritization criteria and community engagement to focus the first rounds of investment.
