“This is a project that is long overdue,” said James Dulac, Richardson’s director of engineering and capital projects. “Glenville Drive is one of the streets that we hear about most frequently, and it was a project that was contemplated [since] 2014.”
The project will rebuild North Glenville Drive from Campbell Road to Arapaho Road, providing paving and utility improvements while enhancing road cross sections and amenities.
The reconstruction of North Glenville Drive is part of The Richardson Innovation Quarter, a 1,200-acre industrial area east of the Central Expressway, according to The IQ’s website. City officials have funded several infrastructure projects to help facilitate the area’s growth.
Dulac said the project will contribute to The IQ by making it easier to move around the area without a car while also increasing green space, including parks and trails, within the district.
Features to be added in the project include condensing the road from a four-lane roadway to a two-lane roadway, adding bike and pedestrian amenities, creating amenity space at Duck Creek, enhancing landscaping and implementing smart technology infrastructure, according to city officials.
Council is debating the best method for completing the street reconstruction project, according to Dulac. The base project, which includes paving and utility repairs as well as improvements for bike lanes, sidewalks and traffic signals, is expected to cost $19.3 million with over $11 million of that funding coming from the 2015 and 2021 bonds.
The city is also looking into four additional repairs it can provide for the project that total $4.74 million. These include nearly $1.9 million for paving and signal pole finishing, $1.9 million toward enhancing landscaping/hardscape, $675,000 for extending the Duck Creek neighborhood water drainage system and $225,000 to add smart infrastructure conduits. Adding all four of these projects would increase the total budget to over $24 million.
City officials plan to finalize the scope and budget of the project ahead of a December council meeting. Construction is scheduled to begin in January to be completed during summer 2024.
