The City of Victoria has set itself a bold New Year’s resolution: to repair 20 miles of streets to the tune of a record-breaking $30 million.
It’s all part of our overall goal of repairing 112 miles of streets during fiscal years 2022-2026, a 50% increase compared to the previous five-year period. We’ve been steadily increasing our yearly investment in streets, in terms of cost as well as miles repaired.
At the City Council’s final quarterly workshop in 2023, City Engineer David Sheblak provided a progress update on the City’s capital improvement plan—a to-do list of street repairs and other infrastructure projects.
Sheblak highlighted projects that are finished or nearly finished, sought approval for a change in the 2024 plan and invited visiting consultants to share potential strategies for two especially troubled streets.
Dairy Road
Residents on Dairy Road received a welcome Christmas present this year.
The City recently completed $3 million worth of repairs on the road, which was once bumpy and plagued with potholes. The project also included utility replacements and a new sidewalk.
The Dairy Road project was a reconstruction; that is, a project that includes repairs to the subbase, which is like the foundation of a street. Reconstruction takes longer and costs more than simply repaving the surface of a road.
The City’s streets budget is divided into residential street projects like Dairy Road and thoroughfare street projects like Ben Jordan Street and Mockingbird Lane. Most of the $30 million in this year’s budget will go toward residential street projects.
Crestwood Drive
Some projects are so expensive that they need to be broken up into multiple phases; otherwise, we would only be able to fix two or three streets per year, leaving the rest of the city untouched. And for complex projects, each phase may still last more than a year.
Both of these factors came into play in the $15 million Crestwood Drive project between Ben Jordan and Main Street. Like the Dairy Road project, it is a full reconstruction that includes utilities and sidewalks.
At the Council workshop, Sheblak reported that utility work on the third and final phase was about 90% complete and that the contractor had begun excavating the south lane. The project is expected to finish in August.
Tanglewood and College Park
If a street is in bad shape, but the utilities will also need replacing in just a few years, we have to wait until we can fix both. Otherwise, we would have to dig up a brand-new street to get at the utilities!
That was the case with the streets in the Tanglewood and College Park neighborhoods. Crews spent last year replacing utilities in both of these neighborhoods. With the new utilities in place, street reconstruction can begin this year.
Pleasant Green Drive
The Engineering department plans its capital improvement projects multiple years in advance, but the projects are still subject to yearly approval as part of the budget process—and even these best-laid plans can be changed if needed.
At the workshop, Council viewed drone footage showing recent damage on Pleasant Green Drive between Juan Linn and Port Lavaca Highway. The road deteriorated rapidly under the weight of traffic that was diverted there while construction was happening on U.S. 59.
After learning about the seriousness of the damage, Council agreed to add the project to this year’s capital improvement plan and delay two less-urgent projects until next year.
North Street
The time and resources required for different projects can vary greatly depending on the age and condition of the streets. In particular, some of the older streets on Victoria’s southside present unique problems.
At the workshop, Randy Janak with CivilCorp explained that part of North Street includes concrete paving from the 1930s that was widened and later covered with asphalt, all of which will need to be removed to reconstruct the street.
The consultant outlined a phased plan for repairing 2.3 miles of North Street between Moody Street and Ben Wilson Street. The proposed reconstruction would come with a total price tag of $42 million—a cost so high that each one of the seven sub-phases would rank among the most expensive projects in a year’s budget.
The order of the phases still needs to be decided. Council expressed interest in prioritizing the section between Laurent and Ben Jordan, which includes the area in front of Patti Welder Middle School.
Council will discuss the project in greater detail at the next quarterly workshop in March. Once the details are finalized, reconstruction will likely start between 2027 and 2029.
Guy Grant Road
If a project is too expensive, we may need to think about design aspects that can be changed or removed to reduce the cost.
Matt Glaze with Urban Engineering presented different options for Guy Grant Road between Salem and Mockingbird. The most extensive repair package came in at $27 million, mainly due to the cost of upgrading the drainage ditch to a box culvert design. This option is cost-prohibitive, especially since the road’s layout means that it cannot be broken up into phases.
The consultant also presented a $9 million option that leaves the ditch but includes utility improvements, a sidewalk and other pedestrian safety features. Council preferred this option but expressed interest in adding some elements—such as extending the project to Leary Lane and adding a traffic signal at Mockingbird—while staying below the cost of the first option.
Where are the street projects?
Residents who’d like to learn more about street repairs are invited to visit www.victoriatx.gov/engineering. There, you can view a map of past and future road repairs dating back to 2017, along with an interactive map showing where repairs are happening now.
The webpage also has a link to the City’s 2024 capital improvement plan report, which includes street projects planned for the next three fiscal years (this year’s projects are listed on page 12).
If you’d like to recommend a street for repairs, you can submit a project request at www.victoriatx.gov/ciprequest.
Keeping up with the streets (and a lot more)
The City of Victoria Communications & Public Affairs works to keep residents informed about major projects and address questions and concerns. See the links below for coverage of street projects from prior fiscal years:
To learn more about how to receive updates from the City of Victoria, visit www.victoriatx.gov/newsroom.
Sam Hankins is the communications specialist for the City of Victoria.