Are you aware on 2/5/2019 the Brazos County Commissioners approved an RFP # 19-096 for Rehabilitation of Arrington Road from city limits to just past Harpers Ferry?
Improvements are always nice and especially on this road, but is it the “best value” for our taxpayer money at this time? There are 2 residential construction sites operating today on the proposed rehabilitation section of Arrington Road. There are 50 and 145 acre tracks of land for sale on Arrington south of Harpers Ferry.
Judge Peters put the cost of widening Arrington at 2 million dollars back during his interview on WTAW on 7/27/2016 (http://wtaw.com/2016/07/27/brazos-county-commission-approves-new-road-south-college-station/ ). Will it cost more now that it’s 2.5 years later?
Won’t it be better use of taxpayer money to wait for 3-5 years, when both the developments are fairly in place and the road will definitely need improvements/repairs and Greens Prairie Preserve will have an access point on Greens Prairie Road? It’s typical of development to have heavy truck traffic which is likely to damage our new improved Arrington Road.
Commissioner Aldrich said the construction won’t start until heavy truck traffic finishes going in and out of new residential subdivisions during his interview on 3/2/2018 on WTAW (http://wtaw.com/2018/03/02/arrington-road-widening-project-still-years-starting/ ).
The County’s Road & Bridge Capital Improvement Budget 2018-2019 is $8,745,400. If the cost stays at 2 million, it will be almost ¼ of the budget (23%).
If you are a taxpayer, how do you feel about this?
The RFP has a winner and will be presented/discussed at the 3/26/2019 - 10 AM Commissioners Court. A couple of us plan on attending to have a discussion on why this makes any sense now with all the construction happening on Arrington Road.
Thanks Shirley - Commissioner Guerra had a good question. The County section is small, but right in the middle of Phase 2. Wish I could have attended that Public Meeting. I hope the new Annexation laws will fix this (City owning part of a road, the County owning part of a road and then the City owning the other part) and where the City annexed only up to a road and did not include the road (e.g. Arrington Road).
During the closing minutes of the Planning and Zoning meeting on March 7, Commissioner Guerra asked city staff to look into a comment by one of the county commissioners concerning the lack of budget for the county's part of the Greens Prairie widening project. His concern was what would happen if the city paid for their part but the county failed to cover the remainder? This sounds like the county and city need to verify budgets for not only the Arrington Road project but the Greens Prairie Road as well. There is little traffic relief if one is complete without the other. It may make sense to confirm the development is successful before committing funds we don't currently have.