New Braunfels City Council approved an additional $73,823 to engineering company KCI Technologies on Sept. 14 for design and utility coordination service changes relating to the final plans for the Kohlenberg Road widening project.
The item was unanimously approved on the consent agenda, so there was no discussion. New Braunfels Mayor Michael French was absent.
What’s happening
KCI Technologies has had to make design adjustments due to significant development improvements along Kohlenberg Road, including the addition of the Costco driveway and 4-lane intersection from Mayfair along with continued facilitation of the utility coordination process to clear any conflicts with the proposed improvements—all of which have required previous funding modifications for KCI Technologies’ contract, agenda documents state.
The additional funding will allow KCI Technologies to provide supplementary utility coordination and deconflict overlapping road-widening improvements at FM 1101. The overlap is due to the Mayfair development adding a traffic signal to an adjacent intersection along FM 1101, which is mandated by the residential project’s traffic impact analysis, according to agenda documents.
The widening of the road will encroach into the project limits as currently designed, according to agenda documents, and the development project will take place before the Kohlenberg Road project, which is why the design services contract must be revised.
This is the project’s fifth contract change—bringing the total cost of the design contract to $1,857,033—an increase of $548,629 from the final design contract approved by City Council in August 2023, according to agenda documents. The additional design services will be funded by roadway impact fees from service area 3.
Project details
The $15,932,000 project is being funded by the city’s voter-approved 2023 Bond, Proposition A and the New Braunfels Economic Development Corp., according to the city’s website.
Kohlenberg Road will be widened from a two-lane road to a four-lane road. A turn lane will be added along with a traffic signal at FM 1101.
Project construction is expected to begin in early 2027 and be completed in mid-2029, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
