City Council discusses poorly-rated roadways and project updates
City Council discusses poorly-rated roadways and project updates
Burleson’s roadways score 69 out of 100 with 14% of roadways considered failed
Correction: This article has been edited to accurately report a quote from Burleson City Council member Larry Scott.
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BURLESON – The Burleson City Council discussed the city’s poorly-rated roadways and the projects the city’s updated Capital Improvement Program funds Monday at City Hall.
Burleson’s roadways scored a 69 on geology-data specialist Furgo’s 0-to-100 scale, according to assistant to the city manager Janalea Hembree’s Pavement Management Program presentation at the meeting.
14% of Burleson’s roadways are considered failed with 13% approaching failure, according to the presentation. 73% are in good or better condition.
Burleson’s concrete roads were assessed as an 83 while asphalt roads were at a 51, according to the presentation.
The council will vote on what action to take in response to the Pavement Management Program results at a future meeting.
City staff’s recommendation to the council was to go with a scenario that’d increase the city’s operations and maintenance budget and result in Burleson’s roadways dropping to an overall 61.2 rating within 10 years to address failing roadways now while Burleson attempts to solidify further funding to see that rating increase in the future, Hembree said.
“We keep getting complaints and even though we’re spending more money, we’re not going to be getting a better roadway until we vote and approve further funds,” Mayor Pro Tem Dan McClendon said at the meeting.
“We’re fighting roads that are failing while trying to fix roads that have already failed,” Council member Larry Scott said. “By the time we get those fixed, we’re gonna have that many more failed, if not more. We can’t afford to go up at this point—it’s too late for that. Trying to stay neutral would be a good goal.”
McClendon said he and deputy city manager Eric Oscarson “had a brief talk about why we can’t [increase the score] and why we’re stuck at the level we’re at.”
Burleson contracted Furgo in 2023 to assess its roadways. Furgo traveled approximately 567 lane miles of roadway within Burleson and collected detailed pictures and data about each roadway to assess their condition.
The Pavement Management Program also allows the city to create a more detailed pavement life-cycle plan to extend the life of roads and allow them to be rated good or higher for a longer period, while decreasing the overall cost that would be spent on the roadway within its lifetime, according to Hembree’s presentation.
With Burleson officially approving the fiscal-year 2024-2025 budget September 10, the city updated its Capital Improvement Program and the projects it will fund.
These projects include widening Wilshire Boulevard to six lanes from Elk Drive to Wicker Hill Road–expected to start construction in Fall 2025 and finish in Winter 2026–an intersection remodel at Alsbury Boulevard and John Jones Drive to add dedicated right turn lanes, and adding 83 new parking spaces in Old Town along Ellison Street–both expected to finish by Summer 2025–according to Oscarson’s presentation.
Other projects the Capital Improvement Program will fund include drainage fixes at Bluebird Meadows, construction and further extension of Lakewood Drive to Chisholm Trail Parkway, the Police Headquarters Expansion and widening Alsbury from Hulen to County Road 914.
Some of the program’s completed projects include neighborhood-street rebuilds for King, Warren and Johnson streets, the new buildings in the Mayor Vera Calvin Plaza opposite of City Hall and the dual left turn lanes at Lakewood Drive and Wilshire Boulevard.
Council member Victoria Johnson commended the city staff for how they presented the Capital Improvement Program to the council at the meeting.
“It was a highlight to actually see how much we’re doing, the progress we’re making, how well it was presented to us all and how digestible it is,” Johnson said.
Scott said the presentation provides “very good information to have an idea where [taxpayers’] money is being spent.”
Council member Alexa Boedeker referred to the plan’s “transparency” as “awesome.”
The council also nominated all six of its votes for Tarrant County Central Appraisal District Board to Gary Losada and nominated its 403 votes for Johnson County CAD Board to Duaine Goulding, Amy Lingo, John Wood, Brandon Potts, and Jim Cockrell.
The council also approved rezoning a previously residential lot at Eldred Street and Bransom Street to become a commercial lot for a planned strip center.
The council will meet again October 7 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
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Thank you for providing this information! Your detail and explanation of the presentation is easy to understand. I have missed the Burleson Buzz and your contribution to my fellow neighbors. Thanks again.