While one Shavano Park road project recently hit a major milestone with the activation of a new traffic light, construction contractor bids are due soon for another street project.
Crews handling the Texas Department of Transportation project on Northwest Military Highway made a newly installed stop light at Northwest Military and Pond Hill Road by Feb. 22.
TxDOT said the new traffic light, which includes turn lights into commercial sites on both sides of Northwest Military, will be synced with the traffic light at Northwest Military and Loop 1604.
City officials said during the first few days of Pond Hill Road traffic light operations, they received many complaints from residents about the length of time it takes to get cross the Northwest Military/Pond Hill intersection. TxDOT representatives said it will take an unspecified number of days to calibrate the new light at Pond Hill and sync it with the existing light at Loop 1604.
In a separate initiative, City Council got briefed by consulting engineers Feb. 27 on the city’s planned bond-funded road improvements.
A $10 million bond passed by Shavano Park voters in May 2022 will support upgrades to a select number of streets and cul-de-sacs east and west of Northwest Military.
Chris Otto, KFW Engineers and Surveying vice president, said to date, 23 general contractors have downloaded engineering plans for the bond-funded road improvements, and that eight interested construction contractors attended two prebid meetings Feb. 14 and 16.
Otto said received project bids will be opened at 2:15 p.m. March 9 at City Hall, and the council is expected to approve a contractor at its March 27 meeting.
The city and consulting engineers plan to have a town hall with the contractor in May or June, when residents may learn more about the upcoming street work. Construction is due to start this summer, Otto said.
Otto also briefed the council on planned improvements to Shavano Park’s portion of DeZavala Road, where the city leveraged its road bond to secure $4 million in federal funds that will help support drainage fixes and the addition of bicycle lanes and sidewalks.
According to Otto, 60% of engineering plans for DeZavala Road will be completed by March 17 with the entire design to be finished by end of July. The city seeks to hold a town hall about DeZavala Road in June.
Because the federal funding has been pledged but is not yet accessible, the city will wait until money is in hand before soliciting construction bids for DeZavala Road, Otto said. He added it would take 10 to 12 months to do the planned improvements on DeZavala Road.
