Transportation
BY ANNA MANESS
Georgetown officials are navigating new road construction timelines after multiple projects have been delayed. Georgetown Transportation Manager Lua Saluone presented an update on 2021 Road Bond projects during a Jan. 28 City Council workshop. During the meeting, District 5 council member Kevin Pitts questioned the construction setbacks. “Every single [road] project on here, besides the Austin Avenue bridges ... did not hit the dates given to us less than 12 months ago,” Pitts said. “What is the reason for the delay in every single project?” Saluone said utility conflicts and right-of- way relocations are causing the holdups. Georgetown Systems Engineering Director Wesley Wright said officials underestimated the number of utility conflicts that would arise, using the SE Inner Loop project as an example. “We expected about seven [conflicts], and we ended up with 22,” Wright said. Staff will return to council in the summer to discuss funding, cost and grant updates. Georgetown leaders discuss delays in city road projects
The timeline
Saluone’s presentation included some construction start and end dates as well as time frames for bids—or proposal advertisements to contractors. The new time frames are:
1 Austin Avenue vehicular bridge rehabilitation Construction started: October 2024 Construction ends: October 2025 2 Rockride Lane Bid: February 2025 Construction starts: summer 2025 Construction ends: fall 2026 3 Shell Road Bid: early 2025 4 DB Wood Road Phase 2 Bid: May 2025 Construction starts: summer 2025 Construction ends: fall 2027
5 Williams Drive A Illumination project Bid: August 2025 B Access management project Bid: early 2026
8 Wolf Ranch Parkway roundabout Bid: fall 2025
Construction ends: summer 2026 9 Austin Avenue pedestrian bridge rehabilitation Bid: January 2026 Construction starts: March 2026 Construction ends: October 2027 10 Leander Road Bid: March 2026 11 Austin Avenue roundabout Bid: spring 2026 Construction starts: summer 2026 Construction ends: summer 2027
6 SE Inner Loop Bid: summer 2025
Construction starts: fall 2025 Construction ends: fall 2027 7 Hwy. 29 Bid: September 2025 Construction starts: September 2025 Construction ends: fall 2026
35
3
5A
SAN GABRIEL RIVER
LAKE GEORGETOWN
5B
4
WOLF RANCH PKWY.
DB WOOD RD.
1 9 11
8
29
SE INNER LOOP
SOUTHWEST BYPASS
7
130 TOLL
10
6
2
ROCKRIDE LN.
MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCE: CITY OF GEORGETOWN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Available funding, cost estimates for Georgetown road projects
Project funding
$63.8M
$0 $10M $20M $30M $40M $50M $60M $70M $80M
Construction estimate
$66M
Available funding
In addition to the construction delays, the city is also over budget by $6.3 million for seven city road projects identified in the 2021 Road Bond, which are expected to cost $194.2 million in construction, according to city documents. Mayor Josh Schroeder said officials have seen higher-than-anticipated costs for construction since the bond, per previous Community Impact reporting.
$34M
$30.9M $18.6M
$32.3M
$18M $14.7M $19M $18.6M
$14.8M $18M $14.4M $19M
Rockride Lane
Shell Road DB Wood Road Phase 2
Williams Drive*
Austin Avenue pedestrian bridges
SE Inner Loop
Leander Road
SOURCE: CITY OF GEORGETOWN/COMMUNITY IMPACT *COSTS ARE FOR THE ILLUMINATION AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT PROJECTS ON WILLIAMS DRIVE.
22
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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