During an Oct. 26 meeting, New Braunfels City Council unanimously authorized an additional $3.1 million expenditure to acquire right-of-way, or ROW, and utility easements for the Barbarosa Road/Saur Lane Improvements Project.
The overview
The existing two-lane road, from FM 1101 to Saengerhalle, will be widened to four lanes. Drainage and intersection improvements are also associated with the project. Civil engineering firm Cobb, Fendley & Associates has been providing acquisition services for this project.
The project was initially budgeted at $1.45 million—based on 2022 market conditions—to purchase 19 acquisitions, according to the meeting presentation. City staff has since identified several additional acquisitions needed for the project, which has increased the cost by $1.65 million, or 113.8%.
“Real estate costs have appreciated; more importantly, the current appraisals that we’ve received for the project on the parcels we’ve been working on have verified this increase in land cost,” said Michael Hale, Cobb, Fendley & Associates’ regional ROW project manager.
The Barbarosa Road/Saur Lane Improvements Project is funded by the city's voter-approved 2023 Bond, Proposition A, which allocated $99.33 million for eight transportation projects throughout the city.
Also of note
Four utility easements, costing about $260,000, are being acquired on behalf of New Braunfels Utilities. NBU will reimburse the city at a later date, but the reimbursement does not include interest.
The ROW acquisition must be completed in January so it does not impact the project’s construction timeline, New Braunfels Purchasing Manager Barbara Coleman said.
