By Belle Nelson
Construction of the Kyle Marketplace Avenue extension is officially underway.
On Oct. 7, the Kyle City Council held its official groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the Marketplace improvement project.
The project, which is oneof five road improvements under the city’s $36 million bond initiative, will provide a link between North Burleson Road and City Lights Drive, behind Kohl’s and Target.
The goal, according to city officials, is to make it easy for people to commute between downtown Kyle to the more commercialized part of town without getting on Interstate 35.
The budget is set at $3.8 million and completion is expected in July 2016.
It’s part of the bond package Kyle citizens voted on and passed in 2013.
“Kyle Marketplace Avenue is the first to begin construction because it was the first road that was ready … from a logistical standpoint,” Mayor Todd Webster said.
To Webster and the members of the council, beginning construction on this road instead of the four others is as simple as math. For each month that passes, according to Webster, the price of constructing a new road increases approximately one percent.
Most of the delays to construction have been due to the time it takes to acquire Right-of-Way.
In February, the Kyle City Council approved an agreement with the LW Parker Family Trust regarding an easement for the road.
Per the agreement, Plum Creek Developers agreed to dedicate its easements for the Marketplace project to Kyle. In return, the city would reimburse PCD for $275,000 in engineering studies they performed on Marketplace Avenue.
Because Marketplace is being built on land that is largely not commercialized, there is less to consider as far as power lines, water suppliers, and electrical lines.
Webster said during the time it took to coordinate with land owners, “we utilized that time to have engineers do most of the preliminary work”.
According to Webster, the process is applicable to all of the roads included in the bond package, and is the reason for the order of construction. The goal is to be ready to begin construction as soon as possible, no matter what road it is.
Capital Excavation had been contracted to construct the new road in its entirety.
“We’re moving quickly and trying to condense construction time…whenever possible,” Kyle City Engineer Leon Barba said.
