About $482 million of the bond will go toward implementing projects in seven completed corridor studies of Burnet Road; East Riverside Drive; Guadalupe Street; and North and South Lamar, Airport and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. Funds would also go toward studying an eighth corridor on either Slaughter Lane or William Cannon Drive or both. One of the first priorities outlined in the memo is to obtain preliminary engineering reports for William Cannon Drive, Slaughter and Brodie lanes so that data can be available for the Corridor Construction Program analysis slated to begin next March.
Consultant contracts are expected to be executed this month so that the reports can begin in January. "We will then be able to evaluate all three corridors to predict how potential improvements in one corridor would affect the others," Hart said in the memo. Next steps for mobility bond A request for qualifications, or RFQ, will be issued in January for engineering services to determine how to split up the remaining corridors. After the groupings have been established, projects will be assigned. City staff has also issued an RFQ soliciting corridor consultants to assist city staff in conducting analysis for the development of the Corridor Construction Program. That contract is expected to be awarded at a Feb. 9 council meeting. On Thursday, Dec. 15, Hart said city staff will be bringing an initial budget amendment before the council "to support early out design and construction funding for sidewalks, safe routes to school, urban trails, bikeways, safety/Vision Zero, capital renewal, and for consultant funding to develop the corridor reports and the recommended Corridor Construction Program." Funding for bond package rollout According to the memo, a second budget amendment might also be proposed for council approval in April for additional bond implementation funding. In keeping with the council's resolution, the memo also stated that in February, the staff will come back to the council to provide process recommendations for oversight and communications. "Information provided will also include initial strategies for engaging and informing the public, citizen boards and commissions, and other stakeholders throughout bond implementation planning," the memo stated. Lastly, the memo reiterated the need for additional staffing to tackle the bond implementation's accelerated timeline. However, if at all possible, Hart said, she will utilize existing staff members to fulfill those roles. "We will bring forward requests for additional staffing as we identify those needs in conjunction with review of the processes," the memo stated.