MIDLAND, Texas — "Cone fatigue" is a phrase used by some Midlanders as road construction projects have been fairly constant as of late in the Tall City.
In 2017, voters approved $100 million in bond funding for road and utility projects, and that work is nearing completion.
Out of 26 projects at the start of the road bond program, 24 of those are now finished. With just Main St. and Garfield St. left to complete, there is stability and upside for Midland’s future.
"Cone fatigue" from the road bond program construction projects is in the final stretch.
“You can see the finish line ahead of us," said Jose Ortiz, assistant city manager for the City of Midland.
Progress is being made on Main St. and on Garfield St.
“It included all three phases of utility work," Ortiz said. "In many cases we were replacing the water line, sewer line and the storm drain before we even did any of the paving work, and that takes quite a bit of time – it’s really invasive.”
Years of work has brought Midland to this point.
“It was very important for us to actually get all the utility work done because if you don’t address the issues with utilities and you pave over the top of that, well, you find yourself from time-to-time actually tearing up brand-new pavement to replace those utilities," Ortiz said.
Ortiz was the director of Engineering Services for the City of Midland during much of the road bond program.
“It was going to be a little more expensive, but we knew overall it would be cheaper for taxpayers to go ahead and take care of all the utility work now and then put pavement over the top," Ortiz said.
Fresh utilities and a fresh surface.
“On some roads we’re actually putting concrete in place," Ortiz said. "So, A Street and Garfield, you’re going to see concrete and those concrete roads will actually last 40 years. So, we didn’t want to have any utilities that need to be replaced, so everything is basically set brand new so that [for] 40 years, you won’t see much activity on these roads, and so, the life of these roads will last a long time.”
As this extensive series of road projects wraps up, Midland’s focus can lean elsewhere.
“You’re challenged with how do we balance the different needs with maintenance versus capital extensions to provide for the infrastructure needed to bring more homes to Midland or more businesses to Midland to meet the demands of our community," Ortiz said. "So, that has been a balancing act, but because we were able to get so many projects knocked out with this bond, it’s going to open up opportunities for us to reallocate dollars towards capital projects that are also needed to, again, talk about the expansions and extensions of roadways to meet our growing community.”
Ortiz said despite falling behind the initial timeline for these road bond projects, they are set to come in under budget even with inflation and rising costs over the last several years. He added that those extra financials could potentially go towards another road project if they have the savings to do so.