Working with an engineer to develop plans for improvement will prepare the city for a potential transportation bond election in the future, according to the city. The earliest a bond election could be called is this November if aggressive action is taken now, but the next possible election would be in May 2023, Mayor Tom Kilgore said.
“With regard to our roadways, drainage [and] sidewalks, we know that we’re in a place that we have aging infrastructure and much of this infrastructure is in need of improvement now,” Lakeway City Manager Julie Oakley said.
The 13 projects in question include mill and overlays, culvert replacements, traffic signals, pedestrian transportation connectivity, road widening and road extensions. The city can be reimbursed for the engineering proposal fee of $191,380 upon the passage of a bond in the future, according to the city.
“We can’t have a bond issue if we don’t have some engineering analysis done at least to a conceptual design phase,” Oakley said. “We need pricing before we go to a bond, and we want to know exactly how much those costs are going to look like.”
Each project was discussed before the council, exploring key issues in need of improvement. Lakeway Drive—a 2-mile road reaching its 20-year mark in 2023—is one of the projects in question, according to the city.
“A road, like any other piece of construction, has a useful life,” Kilgore said. “At some point it reaches the end of its useful life. This road is going to be 20 years old next year, and that’s its useful life before all the heavy equipment goes down there, the boats get towed down there, the ice storm hits.”
Multiple culverts were identified as in need of replacement on Lakeway Drive and Top O’ the Lake Drive, becoming rusted and rotting due to sitting water, Public Works Director Dale DeLong said. In 2013, Lakeway Boulevard had the same culverts and experienced road failure due to the same problem, prompting the replacement of metal culverts with concrete culverts, he said.
A full list of projects with photo details is available on page 25 of this presentation from the Jan. 18 meeting. This list includes the projects listed below.
1. Lakeway Boulevard: mill and overlay
2. Lohmans Crossing Road: mill and overlay
3. Lakeway Drive: mill and overlay
4. Lakeway Drive and Top O’ the Lake Drive: replace culverts
5. Wild Cherry/Flint Rock Road: four-way signalization
6. Main Street/Lohmans Crossing: four-way signalization
7. Medical Parkway/Flint Rock Road: fix road sight distance
8. Lakeway Drive/Lakeway Boulevard: Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant crosswalk
9. Lakeway Boulevard: pedestrian connectivity
10. Lakeway Drive: pedestrian connectivity
11. Serene Hills Drive: widen to four lanes
12. Delsie Drive: connect with Barrie Drive and Joseph Drive
13. Either Barrie Drive or Joseph Drive: road extension to RM 620
