Despite setbacks due to inclement weather, contractors working on Burleson Street and Marketplace Avenue are expecting to complete those road projects by early 2019.
In addition, Kyle city officials also estimate work on the $6 million Lehman Road project should begin in January 2019.
Construction on Kyle roads began in September in an effort to widen roads and improve traffic flow through and around downtown. The efforts are supported by a $35 million bond package approved by voters in 2013.
Kyle City Engineer Leon Barba said 23 percent of construction is complete on the Marketplace Avenue extension from Burleson Street to the Interstate 35 frontage road, despite crew members working only 11 days since Sept. 24. Barba said additional construction on the road will be completed no later than February 2019, while the phase from Miller Street to Lockhart Street is expected to be done by January.
“This project began officially Sept. 10 (and) that’s when it started raining,” Barba said. “Although the contractor made a valiant effort, the (construction) is about seven to eight percent complete.”
Once this first phase of Burleson Street is complete, a second layer of hot mix will be added to the road to increase height by a couple of inches and leave the street looking brand new, rather than reconstructed, according to Jo Ann Garcia, Kyle project manager.
“The road crew will then continue to work on the next section of Burleson from Lockhart (Street) to St. Anthony Drive,” Garcia said in a statement. “The utility crew is working ahead of the road crew closing one block at a time.”
Barba said work crews plan to start on improvements to Lehman Road early next year. Those improvements call for a new two-lane road with upgraded water crossings intended to prevent road closures.
The project received three bids, according to Barba. While the city originally anticipated spending more than $7 million on Lehman Road, Barba said the project came in under budget.
Construction on Lehman Road will affect Lehman High students, parents and staff members who regularly travel along the roadway.
Kyle Place 6 council member Daphne Tenorio said detours will be put in place when the project begins in January. Tenorio also advocated for the importance of collaborating with Hays CISD in regards to detours.
Construction on Lehman Road is expected to be completed by summer 2020, Barba said.
