Rob Vance, Public Works Director announced that the 2023 Monte Vista Street Improvements officially started on July 17, 2023. The City in conjunction with Robins Construction has begun the rebuild of Dennis Street and Batterson from 4th Street to Lariat Road. The project also includes a block of 4th Street from Highway 15 to Batterson. The improvements include water, sewer and storm and a new 3-inch asphalt mat performed by Asphalt Constructors, Inc. Both 4th and Batterson will receive curb and gutter and new sidewalks.
Vance said, “This is the culmination of two years of work and funding to achieve a project this large.” The project began on Batterson with the water line replacement. Residents in the area can expect period of water outages as certain aspects of the water line replacement takes place. The sewer and storm sewer lines will follow. The project will repeat the process on Dennis St.
The final phase of the project will be the curb and gutter and then the grading of the roads for asphalt. Once the asphalt is laid expect road closure while it cures. The contractors will work with each of the property owners as well as they can, but the roadways will be closed to through traffic.
Mayor Dale Becker said, “We are happy to show our residents, their tax dollars at work, as the funding for this project comes from a portion of the One Cent sales tax.”
Normally those tax dollars can pave approximately 1.5 blocks of roadway a year. Last year supply chain issues delayed any street project and pushed past the construction window. The City postponed the project and added it to this year’s funding to complete a larger project. We were hopeful that the bigger project would draw a lot of attention and demonstrate that we are using the One Cent as designed.
When Vance received the bids he was shocked by the increase in the prices for road imporvements since the COVID pandemic. “In some instances the prices have doubled and lead time for materials are months out.” City Manger Gigi Dennis said, “With some creative financing, City Council approved the road project and designated some of the American Rescue Plan funds to offset the overages. Without City Councils approval of the additional federal funds this project would not happen.” While the sale tax gives the City a better opportunity to fix our aging and deteriorating streets, these increases in construction prices will drastically shorten what the city can accomplish.
Vance stated, “We are looking for grant opportunities for road improvements so we may offset these crazy construction costs.” Dennis added, “With the limited funds we received from the One-Cent allocation, it will take decades to make improvements to our detriorting streets. We will have to look at other funding solutions and let the citizens decide if that is how they want to spend those tax dollars.”
