By Andy Sevilla.
The Burleson Street bridge and Lehman Road opened Monday after being closed for more than a month due to damage left behind by two separate October flooding rain events that dropped as much as a total 23 inches of precipitation in Kyle.
Estimated road improvement costs:
Lehman Road (RM 150 to Goforth)
Burleson Road (Center Street to I-35)
Marketplace Ave. (Burleson to City Lights)
Goforth Road (I-35 to Bunton Road)
Bunton Road (I-35 to Lehman Road)
Total=$34,300,000 Right, Burleson Road is now open after recent floods washed much of the old, historic road away. (Photo by Andy Sevilla) |
City officials do not yet have cost estimates for the repairs to the roadways, but Kyle Public Works Director Harper Wilder said in an email that those numbers should be finalized next week after all the invoices are processed.
City crews were hindered from repairing the roadways as floodwaters from the Oct. 31 storm remained over the streets and kept workers from beginning the fixes.
The Burleson Street Bridge had been closed since Oct. 13 when a storm dropped eight inches of rain over the bridge in a matter of hours causing damage to the roadway and leaving two large gaping holes behind.
The bridge’s integrity was in question after it was undermined due to the flooding, and a subsequent storm event on Halloween, which dropped up to 15 inches of rain in parts of Kyle, further delayed repairs and caused worry of more damage.
City crews were unable to begin work on the bridge as the Plum Creek waters, which spilled over its banks, continued streaming at high levels for several days into November.
Last week, crews were able to begin work and on Nov. 14 the rebar was doweled-in and the bridge’s holes were filled with the flowable fill concrete. The bridge was resurfaced with hot mix on Monday and once complete the roadway was immediately opened to traffic.
Lehman Road, which had been closed since Oct. 31 and remained under water until Friday, was covered mud and slime left behind by the floodwaters making the road impassable.
“The roadway was slicker than ice,” Harper said. “We tried scraping it off and the Fire Dept. even tried to help us, but to no avail (on Friday).”
Fearing drivers’ safety, city officials kept Lehman Road closed over the weekend allowing for the roadway to “dry up.”
“Crews have been cleaning it all morning and we were finally able to open it up today,” Harper said Monday afternoon.
Burleson and Lehman roads have for years been a cause for alarm as the roadways are in poor condition and riddled with potholes and uneven surfaces. The city has neglected its streets, not keeping up with their maintenance and letting roadways fall to deterioration.
In an effort to address the “dangers” those roadways put forth, city officials called a $36 million road bond election in November 2012 to reconstruct Bunton Creek, Burleson Road, Goforth and Lehman roads, and also extend Marketplace Avenue. Kyle voters approved the measure by a large margin and city officials are in the process of engineering some of those roads.
At their Nov. 19 meeting, council members approved the engineering of Burleson Street and Marketplace Avenue, which could benefit from federal dollars through the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO).
Council members will decide which roads to fix first, though 2012 discussions seemingly put Bunton Creek Road’s reconstruction ahead of the pack.
