Drainage and street improvement projects in the Old Townsite in Pearland are one step closer to beginning, officials said.

Pearland City Council awarded a contract at its June 13 meeting for the design phase of projects on Old Alvin Road as well as East Orange and Linwood streets. All three roads will be widened as part of the projects. Crews will also install concrete pavement curb and gutter to improve drainage in the area, officials said.

Project plans also feature the addition of a shared-use path on East Orange Street along Town Ditch that will include a pedestrian bridge at Hunter Park.

Old Townsite resident Paul Eskine said he and others from the area approached the city in March to request that East Orange and Linwood streets be added to an existing project to expand Old Alvin Road north of Orange Street.

Voters approved funding for the Old Alvin Road renovation project as part of a 2007 bond referendum, officials said. City staff conducted a preliminary engineering report prior to the bond election to estimate project costs. Sue Polka, Pearland Director of Engineering, said the project is coming to fruition now because it was part of the city’s 10-year Capital Improvement Plan.

In March, Pearland staff completed preliminary engineering reports for the additional projects on East Orange and Linwood streets as they were preparing for the design phase of the Old Alvin Road improvements, officials said.

“We’ve got a little more information on the Linwood and Orange streets projects because [City] Council authorized us to do a study on that area several months ago,” Polka said. “We actually have a preliminary engineering report on that already, and we’ll be starting on some final design work.”

The city revealed the results of the engineering reports at an open house July 26. Additional public meetings for the public to ask questions and share concerns will be scheduled, officials said.

“What you see is all great news for us,” Eskine said at the open house. “We’re going to get basically everything we asked for, and it’s going to be in a short amount of time. This is going to happen relatively quick.”

Although locations for the projects have been determined, officials said no designs have been finalized.

Several citizens voiced concerns at the open house about the projects encroaching on their property and reducing yard sizes as a result of the widening of streets and addition of sidewalks on East Orange Street.

Polka said the preliminary designs widen East Orange Street from Hwy. 35 to Schleider Drive. The project will expand the road from 25 to 33 feet. Polka said the city has 60 feet of right of way on the street.

ARKK Engineers LLC will complete the design phase after City Council approved a $1.4 million contract. A $114,000 contract for project and construction management went to Cobb, Fendley & Associates, a Houston-based engineering firm.

The street improvements are separated into four projects, each with its own timeline for design and construction. The first portion of the project area—Linwood Street and Old Alvin Road to Town Ditch—is expected to begin construction in January 2017, officials said.

The project on Old Alvin Road from East Orange Street to McHard Road will have the longest design and construction phases. Once the design is complete in June 2017, construction will take a year. The completion date for the project is set for July 2018, officials said.

The design for East Orange Street from Hwy. 35 to Schleider Drive will be ready by June 2017, and the project will be complete in March 2018.

The mixed-use trail along Town Ditch will be installed from March-July 2017, officials said.