Commission OKs four roads for construction bids

A patch of road on Travis Street in San Benito displays how years of wear and tear have wreaked havoc on many heavily-used streets. (Staff photo by Michael Rodriguez)

A patch of road on Travis Street in San Benito displays how years of wear and tear have wreaked havoc on many heavily-used streets. (Staff photo by Michael Rodriguez)

By JOE BOCANEGRA
Special to the NEWS

The San Benito City Commission approved Tuesday four streets officials plan to request contracts for construction bids.

The decision came after discussion from City Commissioners, City Manager Manuel Lara and Assistant City Manager Hector Jalomo.

The roads that were agreed by the Commission are Shafer from South Oscar Williams to Paso Real, N. McCullough from Line 17 to Business 77, Travis from Business 77 to W. Stenger, and Line 17 to Norma Linda.

Although the roads were approved for bids, Jalomo stressed that the repairs have not begun and are in the planning stages.

“We have not met with the engineers,” Jalomo said. “Next week, we’ll draw up the plans with the engineers and then we will be going out for bids for construction.” Commissioners agreed on March Brown and Leal Engineering, a Harlingen-based firm, as the engineers in the street repairs project.

City street crews are currently repairing Ratliff Street.

“We have found lots of damage in that street,” Jalomo said. “Clay pipes, the sewer and water lines have been deteriorating and needing replacing, along with other things.”

It was also discussed during the meeting that San Benito CISD officials assist with the repairs, mainly on Shafer since Berta Cabaza Middle School is located on the road. According to City Manager Manuel Lara, the plan is to reinforce the entrances with concrete, thus prolonging the life of the road for both school buses and the daily traffic.

As previously reported, the city agreed in November to borrow $3.1 million in the form of Certificates of Obligation – a loan that comes with an interest rate of 2.55 percent – to help pay for street repairs. City officials plan to repay the loan over the next 20 years with funds collected from a 4 percent property valuation tax hike implemented in September.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2013/04/19/commission-oks-four-roads-for-construction-bids/

8 comments

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  1. Here’s the answer.
    Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
    Catch a tiger by the toe.
    If he hollers, let him go,
    Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
    My mother told me to choose this one!

    • WeThePeople on April 24, 2013 at 8:15 pm
    • Reply

    Certificates of Obligation for public roadways and infrastructure, should notbe paid with economic development funds. Period. The EDC should be a separate entity with some autonomy, and away from the politics / politicians of the day.
    In my opinion, EDC funds should be limited to business incentives, (for businesses employing more than 10 people), tourism, public and convention facilities that would benefit the general public; public parks and related open space improvements; maybe water supply and conservation programs (with voter approval).
    Fun reading to support my position …

    http://window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/stateloc05/

    http://www.bhlaw.net/articles/Type%20A%20and%20Type%20B%20Sales%20Tax%20Article%20-%20TEDC%20-%20jlm%20rev%20clean%20-%20060611.pdf

    • Tax payer on April 24, 2013 at 8:03 am
    • Reply

    North Milam between 77 and Stenger, there is alot of traffice because of Miller Jordan. Have you seend the street? The street is made of layers. There is a lot worst streets in San Benito than those to be fixed according to the article. Have you seen and been on Whalen Road between 77 and Frontage? You need to drive about 1 mile an hour because it is made of patches, holes, bumps, etc.

    • Pepe Roni on April 22, 2013 at 2:42 pm
    • Reply

    “City street crews are currently repairing Ratliff Street.”

    Isn’t that interesting!!!!! The media previously quoted Mayor Joe Hernandez saying that Ratliff Street needed to be repaired and so be it! Funny how things just work out! Does this answer your question Mr. or Mrs. Coincidence?

    • Coincidence on April 22, 2013 at 8:47 am
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    I don’t know how many people use Line 17 to Norma Linda or even know where this road is, and I know travis is heavily used, but, I still think a complete re-do of Stenger St. is more pressing than any of these two. I’m sure there is a whole lot more traffic on Stenger than on these two roads combined. When are we going to fix Stenger?????????????

    1. @Coincedence …That is a good question!!!

      I have been asking that specific question for a very long time.

      Stenger is considered a “business oriented” feeder road/street and therefore, any repairs to it is funded from EDC funds (sales taxes).

      For some reason, the northwest part of the city has been ignored.

      There are alot of “good questions here!”

        • Coincidence on April 24, 2013 at 9:20 am
        • Reply

        Jose,

        Well, let’s see, since the EDC can’t manage to stay afloat by themselves and needs the city to bail them out, I guess we’ll never see Stenger St. get fixed. No EDC funds = Unrepaired Stenger St.

    • Interesting on April 22, 2013 at 8:36 am
    • Reply

    When I read this article and it stated which roads are out for bids I was not surprised. Can the city please explain to me the logic behind putting bids to fix: “N. McCullough from Line 17 to Business 77, Travis from Business 77 to W. Stenger, and Line 17 to Norma Linda.” I can understand the logic behind Shafer Rd. due to all the traffic created by the IDEA school. The city recently had 510 built (Scaief, Line M, not sure what its officially called, some parts don’t even have established speed limits yet and its been how long), fixed, expanded and has been a great addition to the city. The main roads the run from this road to Sam Houston are the frontage roads (good condition), San Jose Ranch Rd./510 (good condition), Bus. 77 (good condition), Yost Rd. (fair condition), and Pennsylvania, Stenger, and Line 17.

    One, I’m not sure Line 17 deserves to be in the same category as the other main roads or considered a main road.

    Two, does Line 17 get more traffic than Pennsylvania or Stenger. I’m not a foreman or construction guy or a street guy or a roads guy or a TXDOT guy, but I’d bet that Stenger, and maybe Pennsylvania, have more traffic than Line 17 does instead of betting the other way around. If I’m wrong please correct me. This is just a general observation.

    Three, N. McCullough from Line 17 to Business 77. Really? Sounds political. I wonder who lives up and down and close to this road and Line 17. Probably very political.

    Four, Travis from Business 77 to W. Stenger. Maybe, MAYBE, because of the post office. It is bad though. Always has been. Very interested to see why this road was chosen? Pharmacy, bank, new city bought building, and resaca trail access might all have to deal with this.

    Bottom line, I truly feel that the city dropped the ball with bids going out to certain roads. I personally feel Stenger from Sam Houston to 510/Scaief should be at the top of this list. It has heavy traffic, cracked roads, grass coming out of it, unvisible painted median lines, no shoulder, drive thru shops congest traffic, horrendous when the city has the carnivals or festivals or morning sales near the community building, turns into access streets are horrible, one of the city’s hugest money makers, SBCISD, has it’s admin building there and access from Sam Houston to where it is located is bad, bad access to the baseball fields, etc etc. The city has delayed fixing roads for quite some time. The city has spent alot of time trying to raise money to fix roads for quite some time. And it all leads to these bids been placed. The city deserves to have these roads fixed, but priorities, as is life, should always come first. The greater good. Right? Just my opinion.

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