Tis the Season (For Road Work)

With the new budget approved in June, July 1 marks the beginning of a new fiscal year. With the budget year starting in the summer, the City gets moving as quickly as possible to complete projects before the weather turns colder. The most time-sensitive projects are transportation related. Typically, half of road projects are completed within a window of time between the start of the new budget in July, and the early fall when the weather turns cooler. Road projects then pause for late fall, winter, and early spring. The second half of planned road projects takes place in a window of time from late spring, when the weather warms, and the summer running up to the end of the fiscal year on June 30. The City has made tremendous strides in knocking out a hefty amount of maintenance on our arterial roads, and we are now turning our focus to collector roads. Our aim is to keep pushing until we eventually get the entire City’s transportation infrastructure on a five-year rotating maintenance plan. Here is a list of transportation projects for the new fiscal year, broken down between capital improvements and maintenance: Capital Improvements: -Traffic Signal at Porter’s Crossing & Pony Express Pkwy. ($250k) -Bobby Wren Ext. ($550k) City code requires that all new subdivisions have two points of access, though some do not. This project will include a trail along the street and will provide a second access point for residents in sections of Pioneer Addition. -Golden Eagle Rd. ($100k) This project will eliminate the remaining section of dirt road and connect Kiowa Valley with a second paved access to neighborhoods. -Hummer Rd. ($30k) This section will connect existing streets and run past the new park. -Salt Shed ($250k) Not only will this help our crews to work more efficiently during plowing operations, it will bring our salting operation into compliance with EPA standards. -Sunset Drive Improvements ($447k) -Side Path/Bike Plan Improvements ($185.5k) These are safety improvements to bike and pedestrian crossings at roundabouts and arterial roads. Maintenance: -High Density Mineral Bonding for subdivision streets ($190k) This treatment will be applied to various areas of the city in order to rejuvenate asphalt on select roads. -Cedar Drive Overlay/Repair ($50k) This treatment will be the first step in rehabilitating roads in Cedar Pass Ranch. -Crest Rd/Cedar Pass Rd Overlay/Repair ($50k). This is the same treatment as Cedar Drive. -Ranches Pkwy NB Chip Seal ($76k) This treatment will be the same as the chip seal that was completed on the southbound roads a couple of years ago. -Pony Express Pkwy S. Chip Seal ($92k) This will be for a section of Pony Express that heads out to the City Community Development building. -EM Blvd W. Chip Seal ($253.5k) This is a large chip seal job which will renew the road surface from the roundabout out to Wride Hwy. All maintenance processes begin with identifying areas where the road may be significantly damaged and removing failed sections, repairing the road base, and patching the surface before treatment.