by ANDY SEVILLA
If all goes as the Kyle City Council plans, the first of the five streets a recently approved $36 million road bond will improve could be completed in two years - June 2015.
The city’s proposed road bond calendar states that the first reconstruction project would be bid out in March 2014, with awarding in May and initial construction slated to begin in June.
The city estimates the construction of one road project to take about a year.
According to the city’s Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to engineer the North Burleson Street improvements project, which was first advertised on June 5, the purpose of the request is to identify a firm or firms qualified to design transportation improvements and prepare various engineering documents - which may include: plans, specifications and estimates, design schematics and exhibits, right-of-way documents and other related documents – with the end result of selecting consulting firms for the road bond improvement projects.
In May, Kyle voters approved a $36 million road bond set to reconstruct Bunton Creek, Burleson, Goforth and Lehman roads, as well as extend Marketplace Avenue.
For the purpose of describing project approach, RFQ respondents are directed to address the North Burleson Street improvements project alone, as it deals with complex design and construction issues.
North Burleson Street will be widened to a three-lane collector between the future connection to the Marketplace Avenue extension and Miller Street, including a new connection to the IH-35 southbound frontage road. Also, local access will be provided for the properties fronting the existing road segment between the Plum Creek crossing and the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Burleson Street project calls for environmental analyses, public participation, surveying, schematic and exhibit preparation, preparation of right-of-way documents, traffic control plans, drainage design, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, development of plans, specifications and estimates and construction phase services. Under this RFQ, the selected firm will also be expected to coordinate with and obtain approval from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Union Pacific Railroad and any and all other relevant agencies, according to the RFQ application.
Respondents have until July 17 to return a Statement of Interest and Qualifications (SIQ) for the road bond project. A selection committee, comprised of nine local individuals, will rate the qualifications of each applicant on Aug. 14.
Respondents will be evaluated on a 100-point scale. The evaluation provides for up to 40 points for experience, 40 points for work performance and 20 points for capacity to perform tasks.
The selection committee, as appointed by Mayor Lucy Johnson, consists of two council members (Samantha LeMense and David Wilson), a member of the Public Works and Service Committee (Kay Rush), a member of the mobility committee (Joe Bacon), a Library Board member (Michelle Lopez), a Kyle resident (former Council Member Jaime Sanchez), and three city staff members (Assistant City Manager James Earp, Public Works Director Harper Wilder and City Engineer Steve Widacki), according to city documents.
The committee is slated to conduct interviews on the higher scoring firms on Aug. 21, and after contract negotiations, the council would then award the engineering contract out on Oct. 1, according to the RFQ.
Council members have not finalized the road improvements priority list, but a 2012 public visioning session identified Bunton Creek Road as the street needing improvements first.
