Providence Village is preparing for summer sanitary sewage repairs.
During an inspection conducted to check the systems, an issue was detected in a manhole at Providence Boulevard and Waterbury Drive, Town Manager Brian Roberson explained at Wednesday’s Town Council meeting.
“Unfortunately, the manhole for that is smack down in the middle of the intersection,” he said. “It's probably— might be the busiest intersection in our town limits, so we're working through all that now. They've got a traffic control plan, but basically that intersection will have to be closed.”
A tentative date is set for the first week of June, and Roberson estimated the repair could take a week.
The city will make accommodations for affected residents, Roberson said.
The council discussed and took action regarding an update report from Kimley-Horn “regarding sidewalk and bridge improvements in or near Hero Park and Providence Blvd in relation to the TxDOT 2025 Transportation Alternative Set-Aside” project and identified potential funding sources for the project.
One of the initiatives is to increase walkability and safety in the town and to “connect residential areas to both existing and future commercial lots, as well as Providence Elementary,” according to the presentation, using sidewalks and the addition of a pedestrian bridge.
The estimated cost of the whole project is $ 555,000, Kimley-Horn Senior Project Manager Colten Hermes said.
To help fund the project, the town applied for TxDOT 20205 TA funding, but the town did not receive it.
Hermes explained the reason. 'So, they did award 73 projects for a total of $285 million,” Hermes said. “So, if you do the quick math there, each project was about $4 million in funding.”
The TxDOT funding request exceeded $1 billion, but only $285 million were available to distribute.
“The reason why I bring that up is they were just leaning towards the bigger projects, doing fewer at a time but larger projects so for example, all of the Dallas district within Texas that's like five counties in this area, got four projects— the entire Dallas district,' he added.
Hermes pointed out several steps in the plan that still need attention including finalizing the design, obtaining the easements for sidewalk construction and sourcing a contract for the project.
If the council decided to apply again for TxDOT funding, applications would open in 2027, and if awarded, construction would start in 2028, delaying the project's original timeline.
“My thought would be to discuss this with EDC at the first April meeting, see what we all think there, and then see if EDC can contribute anything just to lower the burden on the town’s side,” council member Klayton Rutherford said.
Waiting until 2027 doesn’t seem feasible, he said, and the council agreed, tabling the decision.
“I don't think we should wait on another round of applications, because I think the problem's only getting worse as more commercial opens up,” Rutherford said.
