With two consulting groups on board Travis County staff said they are now on track for substantial completion of the 2017 bond and critical safety projects by December 2022. David Greear, assistant public works director for the county, briefed commissioners Dec. 4 on the 60 road and park improvement projects—about four times the amount the county typically handles—being shepherded through the pipeline. “We’ve made up a little bit of time,” Greear said. “We’ve got the ball rolling now. I think we’re right on schedule for where we need to be.” This is a change from a Sept. 4 briefing in which county staff told commissioners they were behind schedule on hiring consultants to help manage the hefty project load. Now that the consultants are in place Greear said he anticipates meeting project goals. In March the county hired Travis Transportation partners as the general engineering consultant to take the role of project manager. The group is currently managing seven projects and is in negotiations for five more, Greear said. Front Line Consulting was selected as the project management consultant in September to monitor, track and improve schedules and budgets. Jessy Milner, co-owner and chief operating officer of Front Line Consulting, serves as the program manager of county improvement projects management consultant team. “The entire team is working together to create a consistent plan to ensure that all 2017-2022 bond program projects are substantially completed by December 31, 2022,” Milner said. Of the 60 projects in the bond and critical safety portfolio, 26 are active at this time, up from only 9 in September, he said. Of those, half are being designed and the other 13 projects are in procurement. One project—Ross Road North—is complete. “There is a lot of work to be done,” Milner said. “The situation remains a work in progress. But there are tangible, positive results in a relatively short amount of time that should give everyone hope that achieving such an ambitious goal is possible.”