A potential $55,000 capital improvement project (CIP) could help Buda assess maintenance options and set priorities for streets needing the most repairs in the city.
Buda City Engineer John Nett said that, at this point, it is too early to say where funding will come from for the project, as city council will have the final decision about potentially including it in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget.
“The city council will have the final decision as to whether the project is approved in the FY 17-18 budget, as well as approval of a funding source,” Nett said.
Nett told the Buda Planning and Zoning Commission May 23 the reason behind the CIP project is to assess the condition of Buda roadways not included in the 2014 Bond projects and perform maintenance to those roadways on a priority basis.
One example Nett provided to P&Z was roads in newer neighborhoods such as Whispering Hollow and Garlic Creek. While the roads in new subdivisions have been recently built, some are suffering from “premature deterioration.”
However, Nett said the project would help further identify problem areas and how the city could fix them.
The potential CIP project was called a “desirable best practice” by Nett in an emailed response and was not modeled after a pavement assessment study done by Kyle in 2015.
The scope of Kyle’s project extended to city owned or maintained streets not included in the 2013 Bond.
According to Kim Hilsenbeck, Kyle public information officer, the city partnered with Civil Engineering Consultants (CEC) with the help of Applied Research Associates (ARA) for the study that cost $80,770.
Leon Barba, Kyle city engineer, said the cost of the study varies depending on the street miles, the different types of information collected and the type of equipment used by the company performing the study. He said comparing those types of numbers can be tricky.
Hilsenbeck said CEC used “vehicles equipped with video cameras pointed down at the street in addition to a forward facing camera” that drove down every city street at various times of day to collect the best data of the road conditions in different light.
Kyle’s study evaluated pavement condition, cracks, pot holes and the riding condition.
Nett didn’t rule out the possibility of using video cameras attached to vehicles as a means of performing the pavement management study. However, he said no action would be taken unless the Buda city council approves the CIP as part of the FY 2017-2018 Budget.
“If approved (the pavement management study), could begin within a couple of months of the new budget year that begins on October 1, 2017,” Nett said
According to Nett, the study will not have a direct effect on issues like drainage, other than identifying which sections of pavement have been affected by fast moving and standing water.
Buda City council will approve and finalize the FY 2017-2018 Budget and specific CIP projects in September 2017.
