UPDATE:
The City of Kyle will close the northern most portion of Burleson Street between Spring Branch Parkway and the IH-35 access road beginning Monday, Feb. 1. The closure will last approximately three weeks.
Only residents who live north of the railroad tracks will be allowed to access that portion of the road.
Those attempting to turn onto Burleson Street from the IH-35 access road will be detoured through downtown Kyle.
By Moses Leos III
Kyle citizens who regularly use parts of north Burleson Street to pass through the city may have to find an alternate route for up to two weeks in the near future.
The closure will be a result of the city temporarily closing the road to give contractor Capital Excavation time to complete a roundabout that will connect Burleson to the city’s Marketplace Avenue project. The city has not selected a date for the closure.
Marketplace, which will connect Burleson Street to City Lights Drive, is one of five projects that were approved by voters in 2013 as part of the $35 million road bond.
Kyle City Engineer Leon Barba said construction on the roundabout will block through traffic from Spring Branch Drive to the northbound Interstate 35 access road
According to Barba, residents living along north Burleson near the Marketplace intersection would have access to their homes. Northbound traffic would be detoured onto Spring Branch drive, with electronic reader boards and barricades alerting residents.
“(The contractor) can do (the project) a lot faster and it’s also safer,” Barba said to council on the closure.
In an update to the Kyle City Council on Jan. 19, Barba said the Marketplace project is 56 percent complete, as of Jan. 7.
Barba said the city’s contract with contractor Capital Excavation is to complete construction by the end of March. Jo Ann Garcia, project manager with the City of Kyle, said Capital Excavation is “well ahead of schedule” of the project’s June 2016 timeframe. She said the project is pushing toward a March completion date, which is dependent on various factors.
But the city will be forced to close parts of Burleson Street to complete the intersection.
According to Garcia, the intersection of Marketplace and Burleson roads didn’t show that a traffic signal was warranted. A stop sign is “still an option,” but Garcia said the decision to move forward with a roundabout was based on support from council.
“To us and to the council, there is a lot of benefit in a roundabout to move traffic through there,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the roundabout would accommodate larger vehicles, such as buses and trucks. The city is utilizing a pavement option that has a 20-year design. But she said the lifespan of the pavement would depend on the volume of traffic on the road.
Burleson Street currently has a traffic count of 7,000 to 8,000 vehicles per day, with the volume expected to double in 20 years.
Garcia said there are a “lot of educated guesses” when it comes to the lifespan of the pavement.
Cost of the Marketplace Avenue project is currently $3.8 million, with roughly $2 million having been paid.
