The city Public Works Department is currently working on two “surprise” project requests from Union Pacific and the Texas Department of Transportation.
The projects were brought to the attention of the City Council at the March 8 meeting.
Union Pacific told the city that it planned to replace the current wooden train trestle near Bridge Park with a concrete structure. The rail company had told the city that the sewer line under the trestle was going to have to be moved, but the city told them that would not be possible.
So the city was told the line would have to support the extra weight that Union Pacific’s work on the trestle would place on the city line.
On Wednesday after the Monday city meeting, city workers found they could solve the problem by encasing the existing line with a 16-inch steel structure to give it the extra weight-bearing strength, said Jerald Brunson, the city’s public works director.
“We told them it would be the end of April when we could do it,” he said, and they were OK with that.
The other project involves the planned Texas Department of Transportation work on FM 487 and FM 908.
“The proposed projects for FM 908 and FM 487 are roadway rehabs. The proposed rehabs should fit within the current roadbeds. However, there may be some slight adjustments to accommodate any safety updates. These projects are set to let for construction in the fall of 2021, and based on those letting dates construction should begin sometime at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022,” according to a spokesman for TxDOT.
“They have to resurface the roads and we have utilities in their right of way,” Brunson said. “ We will have to reroute the sewer and water lines.”
Neither of the projects will have an impact on city utility services, he said.
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