By Moses Leos III
Residents of the Post Oak neighborhood say their streets are deteriorating and that erosion issues persist.
Since repair attempts by the city of Kyle and developers failed, residents Joanne Shelton and Stephanie Pool are now asking Kyle to budget a full repair of the roads.
“We’ve had a lot of Band-Aid solutions,” Shelton said. “What we have now is worse than what we’ve started with.”
Problems in Post Oak extend to areas on Atlantis, Langley, Musgrav, Stennis and Ames Cove. While issues on each street vary, the overriding problems are sinkholes and dips that develop in the street.
According to Pool, the problems pose safety and transportation issues. In one location on Atlantis, cars are bottoming out on manhole covers.
“The ground is literally sinking down and pulling the road with it,” Pool said.
According to Shelton, the degradation is a result of erosion that was not maintained by the subdivision’s developer.
Until 2010, Main Street Homes developed Post Oak. DR Horton is the current developer and is continuing to develop the area.
Much of those problems extend to a major drainage easement that runs parallel to FM 150. In addition, problems surfaced in drainage easements behind three of the affected streets.
Shelton said the developers have made attempts to curb the problem, including installing temporary vegetation and dumping piles of loose rock.
Ultimately, Shelton said the fixes haven’t worked, as rainstorms have washed away the relief. She believes the use of hard landscape and retaining walls can help.
Over the past few years, Kyle has taken the task of patching cracks and filling dips in the street.
Repairs began on three streets in early September. However, it took two months for Kyle Public Works to sign the purchase order for the work. In addition, Pool and Shelton said the fixes caused streets to be blocked off.
That in turn caused safety issues. Shelton said one child was nearly run over by a large truck as it turned to avoid a blocked street.
On Friday, Kyle city officials met with DR Horton about the problems.
Hendrix said problems could lie in unstable clay that’s prevalent on the east side of IH-35. While he said the previous developer studied core samples, the water content in the soil is at a “saturation point,” which may be the source of issues.
In addition, Hendrix said roads in Post Oak only had a two-year warranty.
“They (DR Horton) were informed that soil conditions are not going to hold together,” Hendrix said. He went on to say the city has asked DR Horton to take that in to consideration as they expand the subdivision.
In addition, he said the developer would talk with large truck drivers to use appropriate routes, and avoid construction areas.
However, he said he was unaware of the issues during the work done in September.
Hendrix said the developer is also brainstorming ideas for fixing the erosion issues. However, he said there is no solution at this time.
An email was submitted to DR Horton to obtain information on the status of streets in Post Oak. The developer did not respond to the email request by press time.
Homeowners now seek a more permanent fix. Variables as the total cost and where the money will come from are still unknown.
Mayor Todd Webster said decisions are being made to proceed with repairs, but he didn’t know how soon.
“We need to know what the full extent of what we’re dealing with, so it can get fixed correctly,” Webster said.
Hendrix said the city would continue to assess the area, which could determine the extent of repairs. While he said the city could absorb costs into this year’s budget, he estimates the repairs would go into fiscal year 2016.
“We are aware that corrective measures need to be made and that we’re going through the processes to fund them,” Hendrix said. “It’s not going to be a quick fix. We’re doing everything we can.”
