By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members recently heard an update on city street paving, learning that the method being used to repair roadways now is more time-consuming, but will result in better, long-lasting streets.
Assistant Public Works Director Greg Velazquez gave the update during the council’s June 27 meeting.
Velazquez began his presentation by giving council members an overview of the plan’s goals, which include developing a comprehensive and uniform pavement management plan which is roadway specific to the greatest extent possible and is fiscally constrained, generating pavement condition projections based on a fiscally constrained plan, assuring maintenance resources are directed towards pavement operations and roadway related work, providing a reporting mechanism for public works, engineer and administration to utilize in briefing elected officials and allowing districts and council to appropriately allocate resources through long-term planning to accomplish the plan.
Velasquez next reviewed the scope of the city’s paved streets.
“As we all know, we have about 220 roadway/centerline miles of city streets, and we have been using CIP (capital improvement plan) funds to pay for street reconstruction. One thing I want to emphasize, and this is why sometimes it takes longer than usual to pave a street, is the methodology.
“The methodology has changed from overlay to reconstruction of a street, and the reconstruction of a street compared to overlay, and you have seen it in some areas of San Felipe, such as Virginia Street, Bowie, that area of town, back in the day, we did some infrastructure, replacement of water lines and sewer lines, and if you ride through there, it’s a little bumpy. Well, that was an overlay,” Velazquez said.
He told the council that if a street is reconstructed, it can last 20 to 25 years.
Velazquez told the council street reconstruction work is done by city staff following water, sewer line and gas improvements.
“One thing I’ve emphasized after becoming assistant public works director is working with utilities, working with directors, working and having a plan for infrastructure, making sure that when we pave a street, that we don’t have to come back because we missed an empty lot and didn’t provide the services to that lot and have to come back and cut that street. That just aggravates me,” he said.
“Now, we’re all working together to address manholes, valves, sewer and gas, and I applaud them for their great work,” he said and introduced Roger Sanchez, director of distribution, and Gilbert Macias, streets superintendent.
Velazquez told the council in the past year, the streets department has done about five miles, some three percent of the city’s roadways.
“In past years, yes, we could say we did 10 or 12 miles of roadway, but that was overlay. Reconstruction takes a longer time,” he said.
He said next year, the streets department is planning to do 5.5 miles of roadways, and at this pace, it will take some 25 years for every street in Del Rio to be improved.
Velazquez next spoke about doing the work in-house versus contracting the street work.
“The numbers that I have here for you today are based on equipment, material and labor. In reality, with prices today, we’re looking at about $586 a linear foot in-house. Contracted, you’re looking at about $900 a linear foot,” he said.
Velazquez reviewed his staff, which includes a superintendent, a field superintendent, two clerks, a seven-person patching crew, a nine-person street reconstruction crew, a four-person traffic control crew, a three-person reclaiming crew and a two-person street sweeping crew.
Velazquez told the council it takes a crew of 16 to pave a 360-foot-long street block, and said his superintendent has to “borrow” members of other crews to do the work.
Velazquez said during the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the streets department reconstructed 3.7 miles of streets using cold-mix overlay after water, sewer and gas lines were put in place.
During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Velazquez said 5,525 linear feet of work was done in drainage areas, 103,494 linear feet of potholes were repaired, 23,948 city blocks were swept and 38 blocks of alleys were maintained.
Velazquez next reviewed paving completed from 2021 to 2023 and went over streets that will be reconstructed during the current fiscal year, including Cortinas Street from Plaza Drive to McLymont Street, Palm Drive from Nicholson Street to the cul-de-sac, Canal Street from Pecan Street to the Canal Street lift station, Greenwood Street from South Main Street to Garfield Avenue, Mayfield Street from Bolner Lane to its end, Summit Lane from Qualia Drive to its end and Losoya Street from Pulliam Street to Pecan Street.
In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Velazquez said, the streets department has planned the reconstruction of Bean Street from Gillis Avenue to Barrera Street, Cortinas Street from Gillis Avenue to Taini Avenue, Urista Street from Gillis Avenue to Taini Avenue, De La Rosa Street from Gillis Avenue to Taini Avenue and Brodbent Avenue from Bridge Street to Chapoy Street.
Velazquez said in addition to the in-house reconstruction, the city has also contracted reconstruction of an additional 3.3 miles of city streets, including Northill Street, Ridgewood, Crestline, Long Drive, Hermann Drive, McGregor Street, Marshall Smith Drive, Griner Street from Ogden to Nicholson and West Strickland Street from South Main Street to Nicholson Street.
Velazquez showed photos of Jodobo Drive and Ivy Drive as examples of reconstructed streets recently completed by his department.
Velazquez told the council his department is looking at purchasing a new paving machine that can apply cold or hot mix, as well as additional equipment that will allow his department to do its work more efficiently.
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