KILLEEN, Texas — The City of Killeen is still dealing with the lingering effects of the February winter storm. It is so bad, city council members are considering a $5.8 million bid to repair the roads.
"So many people drive on those roads,” said Killeen Mayor Jose Segarra. “I think it is the city's responsibility to make sure you have safe roads, and good roads that are not going to tear up your car or anything like that.”
During the winter storm, Killeen roads were severely damaged, due to existing conditions and the impact of ice and snow on the asphalt. During a meeting Tuesday night, Director of Public Works Jeffery Reynolds discussed with council members the $5.8 million dollar bid to help improve 12 major streets that include, W.S. Young Drive, Elms Road, Stan Schlueter, East Trimmier, and Old 440.
While city crews have been making spot repairs and will continue to do so, an invitation to bid was issued for asphalt overlay and milling services for the larger areas on city roadways. During the solicitation process, public works staff has been prioritizing roadway projects, focusing on thoroughfares with high traffic volumes.
“So, with the cost that we gathered this is really a good thing for the city and we are excited about it because we are going to be able to take care of a lot of roadways,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds said while the $5.8 million will not be enough to fix all the roads, the 12 they chose to fix were in the worst condition. If the bid is approved by the council next Tuesday, over 50 miles of roadways can be repaired.
"It should be about a week, no more than two weeks after the vote that the company we hired can get started on this repair work,” said Segarra. “It will probably take about 90 days to get that initial roads we submitted repaired.
The transportation department looked at major factors including heavily trafficked areas near schools to come up with the list of streets to repair.