LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Lubbock city council has until Aug. 19 to decide whether it will put a street bond proposal on the November ballot. Wednesday, it accepted the recommendations from a Citizens Advisory Committee it appointed in July, suggesting the issuance of $110 million in bonds to finance construction projects on major thoroughfares throughout the city.
The committee claims it crafted its recommendations focusing on driver safety, school access, and traffic generation. During the work session Wednesday, some citizens and council members found the proposal inequitable, putting 75% of the investment into Districts 4 and 5 while leaving only a quarter of it in North and East Lubbock.
The projects, totaling less than 10 miles of total roadway, would resurface and expand some streets that have fallen into disrepair or need paving, including a 0.8 mile portion of Broadway between Ave. Q and Ave. E. It plans for $100 million in current construction costs, then an additional $10 million to account for five years building costs with 5% inflation year-over-year.
Wednesday’s council action only accepted the committee’s recommendations. It is ultimately up to the councilmembers whether to put the recommendations to the voters, what the language would look like, and which projects would get included.
Broadway
The Broadway project would cost about $16 million, according to the committee’s findings, and would remove all the historic brick from that portion of the road. Those would get cleaned and stored for the city to use in other projects — such as rebuilding the segment of Broadway from University Ave. to Ave. Q — later on.
“There is a problem,” Christy Martinez-Garcia, who represents District 1, declared. “Whether you like it or not, there is a problem on this street. I have had people say ‘it’s not utilized.’ The reason it’s not utilized is because no one wants to drive on it because it’s in poor shape.”
Once the historic bricks are removed, the proposal recommends paving that portion of Broadway with concrete, reserving red brick pavers for intersections and crosswalks. The committee’s chair, Heather Keister, said it would resemble the intersection of 14th Street and Ave. K just outside Citizens Tower. For an additional $3 million, the council could elect to use some of the historic bricks to rebuild those instead of the pavers.
In order for further work on Broadway to continue, the committee recommends the council continue work to replace utility connections beneath it using cash investments during budget cycles. That would prepare it for future resurfacing projects.
Voters rejected bond financing for resurfacing Broadway in 2022. In order to overcome what it considers a problem with public perception, the committee recommends the city create a political action committee to promote support for the bond if the council chooses to put it on the November ballot.
South Overton
The bond proposal includes $2 million in funding for resurfacing roads in the South Overton neighborhood, between University, Broadway, Ave. Q, and 19th Street. It does not specify plans for any particular areas, instead relying on city staff in later stages of planning to determine where that money would be most effective.
Councilwoman Martinez-Garcia, who represents the neighborhood, said it needs much more investment in order to rectify problems left over from 30 to 40 years of poor maintenance.
“I know that you’re trying to address the growing needs of the growing neighborhoods,” Martinez-Garcia told chairwoman Keister, “but don’t overlook the aging neighborhoods. Even though we’re established, our roads are established, a lot of them are in very poor shape.”
“Our committee didn’t feel that street maintenance should be bonded,” Keister replied, “which is why there is that discrepancy in the recommendations.”
Keister said she heard and shared Martinez-Garcia’s concerns, but said every member of the committee — including the representatives from District 1 — had to compromise in order to keep the project within a reasonable bond package.
Push to delay
Some citizens and council members suggested the council delay putting the bond package before voters so they could work on it more. District 2′s Gordon Harris, who described himself as “the new guy,” said he wanted the council to reappoint the committee with someone he felt would better “speak up” for East Lubbock.
“We’re focused out there on the new stuff, which they need,” Harris said, “but we have old stuff too, like in District 2, that we need to take care of. You’ve got people who’ve lived in this town for over 70 years, and they pay tax dollars as well.”
Adam Hernandez, who represents the grassroots smart-city advocacy group Lubbock Compact, pointed out the bond invests 75% of its work into Districts 4 and 5, while leaving the rest for Districts 1 and 2, and 6. None of the projects listed are in District 3.
“Just on its face, that’s not fair to the citizens of this city,” Hernandez said, “who are all going to have to pay this regardless of where they live at. This needs to be looked at in a way that’s more equitable across the city.
“For the cost of just one of these projects,” Hernandez continued, “the Jackson-Mahon neighborhood — which was next on the list in terms of condition — you could have redone all the streets in Jackson-Mahon for just one of these projects.”
Hernandez said citizens or the committee’s representatives didn’t have enough time to gather proper public input or representation. He said repairing roads in historic Lubbock neighborhoods should take higher priority than resurfacing Broadway.
Jennifer Wilson, who represents District 5 in Southwest Lubbock, pushed back on the suggestions of inequity, saying the proposal would benefit all Lubbock residents, regardless of where they live. She pointed out the ongoing Texas Department of Transportation construction on Ave. Q in District 1 and 19th Street benefitting Texas Tech and District 3 as examples of benefitting everyone.
“Sometimes we can’t think of things as ‘everybody’s going to get an equal share of the pie,’” Wilson said, “because there doesn’t need to be a pie. We are all one city, we are all citizens of the same city, and the city grows at different rates.”
Wilson also pointed out the city’s investment priorities were different 40 years ago, when there was more growth inside Loop 289 and the city prioritized widening roads like Indiana Ave., 50th Street, and 34th Streets.
Deadline
The last day the city council can call an election for November is Aug. 19. That would place it as a proposition at the end of the federal, state, county, and district tickets voters will see on Nov. 5.
The next regularly-scheduled council meeting, and the only one before the deadline, is Aug. 13. Mayor Mark McBrayer reminded the council any decisions about bonds or funding are in the council’s hands, and it is not beholden to the committee’s recommendations. None of the councilmembers gave any indication how they plan to move forward Tuesday.
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