Celina City Council aims to convert all downtown streets to concrete in the next 10 years, according to a report by city staff.
To meet that goal, the city will have to outsource some of the work that could usually be done by city staff, Assistant City Manager Kimberly Brawner said. Council approved a $1.7 million project management contract with Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, a McKinney-based engineering firm, at a May 12 meeting.
“We wanted to escalate how quickly we did this without escalating the amount of city staff,” Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Andy Hopkins said.
The details
JMT will oversee the design process for 70% of the roads slated for reconstruction over the next two years, according to the contract.
One of the city’s engineers will work alongside design professionals from JMT to prepare five bid packages and review submissions from three to five design firms, Brawner said.
JMT will be the first point of contact for design firms working on the project and will facilitate monthly and quarterly updates between the firms and city staff, per the staff’s report.
Including the work done by JMT and the design firms, city staff anticipates the design costs for this portion of the reconstruction to total roughly $20 million, Brawner said.
Diving in deeper
Hiring a consultant to oversee the design process will help the city transform its downtown streets on a tight deadline, officials said.
At a Feb. 4 work session where council discussed the options for the project, Brawner said completing the reconstruction on a shorter timeline would require outsourcing, which could increase engineering costs by 15%-18%.
“From a staffing perspective for engineering and the operation of these programs, [the reconstruction plan] starts stretching the limits of our resources,” she said at the work session.
Looking ahead
A February 2026 analysis by Halff and Associates estimated Celina’s downtown streets could be reconstructed in 10-15 years for approximately $237 million, according to city staff’s report.
At a March 10 meeting, council approved a plan to spend $86.6 million on downtown streets over the next five years, including $17.9 million of authorized spending in 2026.
Brawner said construction on several downtown streets is scheduled to begin later this year, including:
- Pecan Street (from Arizona Drive to Florida Drive)
- Illinois Drive (from Walnut Street to Pecan Street)
- South Ohio Drive (from the south end to Ash Street)
- South Louisiana Drive (from the south end to Ash Street)
