Friday, April 26, 2024
Coryell County leaders and consultants Natural Resources Solutions have big plans for significant roadwork funding and are awaiting the next step from the Texas General Land Office that could result in a substantial amount of money being funneled toward local street improvements.
"The agency could open up the portal any day - our folks are working with road and bridge to make sure you're good to go," said Steve Manning with NRS. "We have identified $108 million worth of projects and 167 miles of country road along with 64 crossings and elevated structures."
Part of the federal government's criteria on fund use is to improve access to areas where there is a high low to moderate income population and that it meets environmental justice requirements. Manning said NRS was able to expand the areas which qualify because school buses must be able to access certain locations.
"Out of the total, that is now sliced out and packaged into 18 different projects?" asked Coryell County Judge Roger Miller.
"That is correct, judge," Manning said. "We're making some minor modifications. If push came to shove, we could be in business tomorrow. There's a limit by statute, and none of the projects can be more than $10 million in size. The land office asked us to add some smaller projects.
The 18 projects include both roads and elevated structures throughout the county. They range from three miles to 17.6 miles, said Casey Childers with NRS.
Manning said every culvert along 167 miles of road has been inventoried.
Additional elevated structures with little to no roadwork required were added to the project list at the GLO's request, Manning said. The estimated cost of those projects ranges from $750,000 to about $1.5 million.
"We're sitting at about $108 million and change (for the total project list) and believe a good target is about $120 million," Manning said. He added that to comply with grant requirements, about 50% of the work must impact low to moderate income areas.
"In this county, we are limited in (low to moderate income, or LMI) to areas inside Gatesville and Copperas Cove," Manning said. "I would like to have some conversations with Gatesville and Cove, with y'all's permission, about areas that link to county roads."
He said the cities would be responsible for costs within their jurisdiction. He noted two projects in Gatesville that were on the city borderline or slightly inside the city limits. One of these, Straws Mill Road, is partially outside the city limits and has been a priority for the county to fix.
"If we get a lot of rain, (school) buses won't travel there," Manning said. "The county is proposing to spend a lot of money to rebuild Straws Mill on the north end and the south end. The portion inside Gatesville would close during heavy rains. I think it would be a good project."
Judge Miller agreed that including Gatesville and Copperas Cove projects could be beneficial.
"It could be very advantageous to Copperas Cove and the city of Gatesville," he said.
"I would not propose these if the county would be out anything with these projects," Manning said. "If Gatesville is interested in doing this, we would figure out their cost and that would come back to the county."
