Woodcreek infrastructure getting attention it deserves
A VIEW FROM THE COUNCIL TABLE
Editor’s Note: The views expressed by the writer are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the city they serve.
As a long-time resident of Woodcreek, I have seen our infrastructure, especially our streets, age and deteriorate. As a member of City Council I have worked to improve our streets and meet the expectations of our citizens, but I am aware we have only addressed a small portion of our streets and more needs to be done.
We have discussed, planned, and planned again but, to date, we have replaced one road, Brookhollow Drive, 1.1 miles of approximately 9 miles of streets in the City. This fiscal year we partnered with Hays County to repair potholes and other damage throughout the City, and although these repairs improved the streets, they do not resolve the major issues within our infrastructure.
It is time to begin the process of repairing or replacing our streets within the funding available to the City and without an additional tax burden on our citizens. It is a difficult task and one that takes the proverbial village to address. I believe the effectiveness of our Council and our government improves when we receive input and advice from our citizens. With that in mind, we solicited volunteers to form the Roads Advisory Workgroup, and we developed a plan of action. This plan began with a thorough evaluation of all streets in Woodcreek. The evaluation is 75% complete and it included onsite inspections of the streets and rating them on condition, safety, site obstructions, drainage, width, potholes, surface cracks, and alligator cracks. The inspections also included conditions, such as drainage flows that, if unattended, will wash off road base and surface asphalt. We are now in the process of synthetizing the findings to determine priority for repairs or replacement.
We have been sharing, and will continue to share, the findings of the assessment and our proposed plan of action with Woodcreek citizens through town-hall meetings, social media, City mass e-mail, City website, and monthly updates at Council meetings. We welcome our citizens to attend the Roads Advisory Workgroup meetings. Our Next one will be Tuesday, July 2, at City Hall beginning at 1:30 p.m.