The Frisco City Council is moving forward with designs for the redevelopment projects in the downtown Rail District totaling nearly $45 million.
The redevelopment plans now carry a higher price tag than initially proposed when the city allocated $15 million for three projects. Kimley-Horn and Mesa Design Group presented renderings and estimated costs for downtown improvements to council members during a work session on June 7, where they received feedback. The firms returned during an Aug. 2 work session with updated cost estimates and designs based on the feedback they last received during the June work session for the three projects that would transform three streets in the Rail District: Elm Street, Main Street and the Fourth Street Plaza.
Since the work session on June 7, the construction of Elm Street, which is the first project, has been bidded on, and the city is ready to enter a construction contract with a bidder that came in within the $5 million budget. Construction on Elm Street will begin in September, and the contract will be presented to the council in a future City Council meeting, according to Director of Engineering Services Paul Knippel.
For the second project, Kimley-Horn and Mesa Design Group presented three scenarios for Main Street construction. Scenario 1 would be a complete build-out from 1st Street to County Road. All parkways, medians, street pavement and intersections would be made new and will cost $22.7 million. In Scenario 2, no street pavement would be improved, but new sidewalks, pavers and trees would installed and would cost $12 million. Scenario 3 combines the first two scenarios and features a full build-out from 3rd Street to 5th Street. The sidewalks would be improved and the remaining intersections reconstructed for a cost of $14.8 million.
