Jersey Village continues progress on street improvement project

The City of Jersey Village took another step forward with its street improvement project Feb. 20, following council's approval of a construction bid for $6.5 million. SER Construction, which handled the city's previous two street improvement projects, will also complete the third phase.

Last summer, council selected several streets to be considered for the project before hiring Brooks and Sparks Engineering to oversee the design, scope and bidding. During the budgeting process for fiscal year 2012, the city set aside $5 million for the improvement project. To afford the $6.5 million in construction costs, council voted during the meeting to transfer $2.3 million from the general fund to the capital improvements fund.

Aside from the financing, another issue discussed revolved around sidewalks on Carlsbad Street, one of the affected areas. Since there is not sidewalk on all of Carlsbad, Erik Tschanz, project manager for the city, told council members he conducted a poll last month to determine which residents on the street wanted sidewalks. After compiling the results, he discovered about half the residents wanted sidewalks and half did not.

The four council members in attendance—Jill Klein, Harry Beckwith, Rod Erskine and Mark Maloy—agreed there should be sidewalks along Carlsbad, since it is the norm in Jersey Village.

"There are too many people who go out walking that might end up in the street," Klein said.

Work on the street improvement project, which will begin this spring, is expected to take about 14 months, according to Brooks and Sparks.