At Friendswood City Council’s Dec. 8 meeting, Engineering Director Jildardo Arias shared an update on capital improvement projects across the city, including that some are of poorer quality than the city expected.
For one, Arias said, some of the streets that were repaved in 2020 have already cracked.
Cracking makes sense on some roads where there is a ditch instead of a curb and gutter, Arias said: Because the road has nothing to push against as traffic drives along it, the road cracks along the shoulder.
Arias said the city has met with the contractor to address these cracks by sealing them. However, other roads have more concerning problems, he said.
“There are some other streets that the quality was not up to par like we would expect it,” Arias said.
Rustic Lane, for instance, has a crack right down the middle of the street, and the city does not have a definitive answer as to why. The city is having samples of the road analyzed to see if the problem is poor material or poor workmanship, and there will be an answer in the coming weeks, Arias said.
Council Member John Scott agreed that some roads that underwent maintenance are now problematic.
“My street is wavy down the middle of the road, and it’s brand-new,” said Scott, who lives on Chester Drive. “It’s unacceptable.”
The city is working to determine which roads will receive maintenance in fiscal year 2020-21. Among those already confirmed is Cowards Creek Drive, which was on the docket for maintenance in FY 2019-20 but was not fixed, Arias said.
In FY 2019-20, the city replaced 1.64 miles of concrete roadways, repaired 103,000 square feet of road panels, did 5,571 linear feet of curb work, and replaced 2,236 square feet of sidewalks and wheelchair ramps. Additionally, the city repaired 13.94 miles of asphalt roadways and replaced 4,140 linear feet of curbs along those roads, Arias said.
The city is in the early stages of the planned reconstruction of and training upgrades for Fire Station No. 2. The architect is close to having a proposed layout for the station. A total of 10 companies responded to a request for proposals for a construction manager for the project, and the city is vetting them, Arias said.
The project to expand the city's public safety building is in its early stages. A total of 15 companies responded to a request for proposals for a manger of that project, and the city is vetting those as well, Arias said.
Emergency repairs on the San Joaquin Parkway bridge were completed in September at a cost of $258,000. Offset and collapsing culverts were discovered during routine bridge inspections and have since been addressed, Arias said.
In other business
On Dec. 7, Friendswood City Council unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance to update the city’s flood and drainage standards in accordance with Harris County standards. Doing so will allow the city to continue working with Harris County on drainage projects.
