LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Lubbock City Council has until Aug. 19 to decide whether to put a street bond proposal on the November ballot. On Wednesday, it adopted the recommendations of a citizen advisory committee created in July that proposes issuing $110 million in bonds to finance construction projects on major arteries throughout the city.
The committee claims it has crafted its recommendations with a focus on driver safety, school access and traffic generation. During Wednesday’s work session, some residents and council members felt the proposal was unfair, as 75% of the investment would go to Wards 4 and 5, while only a quarter of it would remain in North and East Lubbock.
The projects, which total less than 10 miles of roadway, will resurface and widen some streets that are in poor condition or need to be paved, including a 0.8-mile stretch of Broadway between Avenue Q and Avenue E. The ongoing construction cost is $100 million, and then another $10 million will be added to cover five years of construction costs at an annual inflation rate of 5%.
On Wednesday, the council simply accepted the committee’s recommendations. Ultimately, it is up to the council members whether they present the recommendations to voters, what the wording should look like and which projects should be included.
Broadway
The Broadway project would cost about $16 million, according to the committee’s findings, and would remove all historic brick from that stretch of street. These would be cleaned and stored for the city to use later for other projects — such as rebuilding the stretch of Broadway from University Avenue to Avenue Q.
“There is a problem,” said Christy Martinez-Garcia, who represents the 1st District. “Whether you like it or not, there is a problem with this road. I’ve heard people say it’s not being used. The reason it’s not being used is because it’s in bad shape and nobody wants to drive on it.”
Once the historic bricks are removed, the proposal recommends paving that part of Broadway with concrete and reserving red brick pavers for intersections and crosswalks. Committee Chair Heather Keister said it would resemble the intersection of 14th Street and Ave. K right in front of Citizens Tower. For an additional $3 million, the council could decide to use some of the historic bricks to rebuild those in place of the pavers.
To allow work to continue on Broadway, the committee recommends that the City Council continue work to replace the underlying utility connections using cash investments during budget periods. This would prepare Broadway for future redevelopment projects.
Voters rejected bond funding for repaving Broadway in 2022. To address this public perception issue, the committee recommends the city establish a political action committee to encourage support for the bond if the City Council decides to put it on the ballot in November.
South Overton
The bond proposal calls for $2 million to resurface streets in the South Overton neighborhood between University, Broadway, Ave. Q and 19th Street. It does not specify plans for specific areas, relying instead on the city government to decide where the money can be used most effectively in later planning phases.
Councilwoman Martinez-Garcia, who represents the district, said significantly more investment is needed to fix the problems caused by 30 to 40 years of poor maintenance.
“I know you’re trying to meet 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 streets are established, many of them are in very poor condition.”
“Our committee was of the opinion that no security should be provided for road maintenance,” Keister replied, “which is why there is this discrepancy in the recommendations.”
Keister said she has heard and shares Martinez-Garcia’s concerns, but added that every member of the committee – including representatives from District 1 – has had to compromise to keep the project within the scope of a reasonable bond package.
Press to delay
Some citizens and council members suggested that the council delay voting on the bond package so it could work on it more. District 2 Rep. Gordon Harris, who called himself “the new guy,” said he wanted the council to reshuffle the committee with someone he felt could better “advocate” for East Lubbock.
“We’re focusing on the new things they need,” Harris said, “but we also have old things, like in the Second District, that we need to take care of. There are people who have lived in this city for over 70 years and they pay taxes, too.”
Adam Hernandez, representing the grassroots smart city advocacy group Lubbock Compact, pointed out that 75% of the bond’s work will be invested in Districts 4 and 5, while the rest will be reserved for Districts 1 and 2 and 6. None of the projects listed are in District 3.
“This is not fair on its face to the citizens of this city,” Hernandez said, “who all have to pay these fees regardless of where they live. This needs to be looked at in a way that is more equitable for the entire city.”
“For the cost of just one of these projects,” Hernandez continued, “in the Jackson-Mahon neighborhood – which was next on the list in terms of condition – all of the streets in Jackson-Mahon could have been resurfaced for just one of these projects.”
Hernandez said citizens or committee representatives have not had enough time to adequately inform or represent the public. He said repairing streets in Lubbock’s historic neighborhoods should be a higher priority than resurfacing Broadway.
Jennifer Wilson, who represents the 5th District in southwest Lubbock, rejected the accusations of unfairness and said the proposal would benefit all Lubbock residents, regardless of where they live. She pointed to the Texas Department of Transportation’s ongoing construction on Avenue Q in District 1 and 19th Street, which benefits Texas Tech and District 3, as examples of everyone benefiting.
“Sometimes we can’t assume that everyone is going to get an equal piece of the pie,” Wilson said, “because there doesn’t have to be a pie. We’re all one city, we’re all citizens of the same city, and the city is growing at different rates.”
Wilson also pointed out that the city’s investment priorities were different 40 years ago, when there was more growth within Loop 289 and the city prioritized widening streets like Indiana Avenue, 50th Street and 34th Street.
Deadline
The last day the City Council can call an election for November is August 19. That would put the proposal at the bottom of the federal, state, county and district ballot lists that will be put before voters on November 5.
The next regular council meeting, and the only one before the deadline, is Aug. 13. Mayor Mark McBrayer reminded the council that any bond or financing decisions are in the council’s hands and it is not bound by the committee’s recommendations. None of the council members gave any indication Tuesday of how they plan to proceed.
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