Major downtown reconstruction project starts this month
Detail of LBJ Drive, Hutchison street intersection
STAFF REPORT
Seven years after voters approved bonds for part of the work, construction will soon be in full swing on the first phase of major overhaul of prominent downtown streets and sidewalks.
Download» High resolution birds-eye view of planned downtown improvements [jpg] |
Last month, the San Marcos City Council awarded a construction contract to Pflugerville-based RGM Constructors of Texas LLC for the first phase of the $10.2 million project.
The work includes rebuilding streets and sidewalks and burying electric and telecommunications lines on Hutchision Street from the San Marcos River to LBJ Drive and LBJ Drive from Hopkins Street to University Street. The new streetscape will include 13- to 17-foot sidewalks and detail such as decorative streetlights, trees and landscaping, bicycle racks and benches.
“This major project will address serious needs downtown, such as long-standing drainage issues and sidewalk repairs,” said Linda Huff, the city’s Engineering and Capital Improvements department director. “It will also make this part of downtown friendly for walkers and bicyclists and beautify it by placing the utilities underground and adding the streetscape amenities.”
A water quality pond is included in the project in San Marcos Plaza Park.
“This water quality feature will filter storm water before it reaches the San Marcos River. It will also be a park amenity with seating and native vegetation that will make it a place people can enjoy visiting,” Huff said. “Our downtown is unique, and it deserves the extra attention to detail and beautification features that we are excited to include in this project.”
The project will then progress along Hutchison towards LBJ. The estimated completion time is in the summer of 2015.
Access to downtown businesses will be maintained at all times during the project, and the contractor will provide way finding signs to guide customers to businesses affected during the construction, Huff said.
A portion of the project, then called the Hutchison street reconstruction project, was included in a 2005 bond package approved by voters but was re-imagined and enhanced over the years in accordance with the city’s downtown masterplan.
For more information, contact the department of Engineering and Capital Improvements at 512-393-8130 or online at CIP@sanmarcostx.gov.
RELATED IN THE MERCURY:
- San Marcos to break ground on downtown reconstruction | 09/04/2012
- Construction to pinch Hutchison to one lane starting on Monday | 10/25/2012
- Downtown merchants hope sidewalk sale boosts business | 04/20/2013
- San Marcos downtown redevelopment project in planning stage | 10/05/2010
- Sessom Drive drainage, pavement improvements slated to start this week | 03/01/2010
Posted by Brad Rollins
on 08/15/2012. Filed under Business, Featured, News, San Marcos.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
10 Responses to Major downtown reconstruction project starts this month
Leave a Reply
All for beautification downtown, but once again we start it just as classes begin.
Doesn’t matter when it starts =) Glad SM is working on it!
Sure hope traffic direction on LBJ doesn’t change as indicated in the photo…
Mike: those are the back-in parking spots (see Hutchinson street as well).
Backin parking. What a concept. If an auto backs into a parking space, it magically gets smaller.
There is back-in parking on South Congress between Oltorf and Riverside. I think its great for Austin (especially Congress) because the amount of cars on that street and because the speed limit is somewhat higher (50mph). Before back-in parking, it was impossible to back out of a spot. I dont know how good this is for San Marcos…Ive never really had trouble backing out of a spot on LBJ. There are stop lights to protect you, and a 30mph speed limit helps.
How many lanes of traffic will LBJ have?
I can see how back-in parking makes it safer for bikes when the vehicle is pulling out, but I’m a little concerned about the sudden stopping/backing in but everyone (cyclists and drivers) will get used to that I suppose….but anything else besides rack that makes it “bike friendly”?
I have a small car, so backing out downtown is a little difficult – I can’t see anything over the big trucks and SUVs. Perhaps the new parking will make it easier and safer to exit a parking spot for us car drivers. We’ll find out next year : )
So how do you get your vehicle into back in parking? No matter how you angle the spots, at some point in the parking event, you back up.
As for the South Congress parking, last couple of times I walked that portion of S. Congress I noticed a lot of vehicles that did not/could not back in properly. Just my personal observation.
Maybe this was reported earlier and I missed it. If so sorry about the redundancy.
Are those roundabouts in the middle of the intersection? Or is the compass a decorative feature on the street itself?