Kyle City Council unanimously approved a $266,600 task order with HDR Engineering, Inc. to fully design four parking lots at each of the aforementioned parks Jan. 7. City staff will also look into the cost of adding electric vehicle charging stations.
The details
The parking lots will be built at the existing Steeplechase Park playground/splash pad, basketball court and dog park parking lots. Two of those lots will be built with a permeable design, and the third one will be built using asphalt. The fourth parking lot will be built at Waterleaf Park's Abundance Lane using asphalt.
All parking lots are currently not ADA compliant and lack sidewalks and lighting, according to agenda documents.
Waterleaf Park will receive a total of 57 parking spaces and Steeplechase Park will receive a total of 122 parking spaces, according to agenda documents.
Digging deeper
Parking lots with a permeable design will have higher construction costs and need frequent maintenance compared to the asphalt design. But the design timeline is shorter and reduces impervious cover in floodplain, which helps adjacent neighborhoods, according to agenda documents.
Asphalt design has a lower cost and lower maintenance cost, but the design timeline could be longer due to Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, requirements. FEMA could deny the design and require an additional engineering study which would increase costs, Director of Administrative Services Roise Truelove said.
What they're saying
The public will benefit from increased lighting, safety and parking, City Manager Bryan Langley said.
“This will be particularly important for the Waterleaf area that has had a lot of parking taking place in the neighborhood,” Langley told Community Impact.
Council member Miguel Zuniga said he was happy to see the city investing in parks on Kyle's east side and that the improved parking lot and additional street lighting would provide better security for residents to enjoy those parks after work and on weekends.
"There used to be a lot of trouble with vehicles that were parked in neighborhoods—specifically with the Waterleaf one. So that parking lot is going to be very useful and very valuable for the folks that [want to] enjoy the soccer fields and the baseball fields," Zuniga told Community Impact.
Looking ahead
The design and construction process is anticipated to take about 12 months. Construction is anticipated to begin this summer, Langley added.
