Douglas Officials Working On 10-Year Road Plan Strategy
Prospects look good for the City of Douglas as it continues to grow with new development while it plans for a 10-year strategy to tackle road improvements, City Engineer Brian Vilmont of Prein & Newhof said last week in his presentation before city council’s committee of the whole meeting.
Vilmont presented the 2015 Street Asset Management Plan, providing the city with various alternate scenarios considering Douglas’ present $100,000 annual budget dedicated to streets.
It is only one plan the city is working on—the city also is working on planning for harbor waterfront development and land use as well as much needed upgrades and additions to the water lines.
“This (street management plan) provides information about the current conditions of the roads; and it will help answer the question: What are the most cost-effective maintenance options?” said Vilmont.
“There are some roads that are so deteriorated, it may be a misuse of funds to try and fix with improvements rather than letting it go and reconstruct the entire road. In other cases where a road is in fair condition, a little bit of maintenance goes a long way,” he added. “Overall, the city is doing a good job; we just need to do a little tweaking.”
With the vast majority of streets being asphalt, Douglas has 16 miles of streets it is entirely responsible for maintaining, including 5.4 miles of major (e.g., Blue Star Highway, Main Street, Water Street, etc.), 9.9 miles of minor streets (e.g., Amity Street, Bayou Drive, etc.), and other streets.
That responsibility includes routine maintenance such as plowing, sweeping, right-of-way work, preventive maintenance and reconstruction.
More than 80% of the city’s roads fall into the ‘Good’ or ‘Fair’ category, says Vilmont.