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HI, EVERYONE, I'M PATTY MORAN WITH STREET T ALK.
YOU'VE PROBABLY NOTICED THE WORK THAT HAS BEEN TAKING PLACE AROUND SEVERAL RAILROAD CROSSINGS IN GARLAND.
THE GARLAND STREET DEPARTMENT OVERSEES A TOTAL OF 51 RAILROAD CROSSINGS IN THE CITY.
WITH TIME, EACH REQUIRE REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT. BEFORE WORK CAN BEGIN, ACTUAL NEED, AS WELL AS FUNDING SOURCE HAVE TO BE IDENTIFIED, AND EVEN THEN, THERE'S A LOT TO DO BEFORE PHYSICAL WORK CAN ACTUALLY BEGIN.
FIRST, A DESIGN NEEDS TO BE CREATED...
WHILE, THAT'S IN THE WORKS, THE STREET DEPARTMENT MUST COORDINATE WITH THE RAILROAD'S COMPANY TO DETERMINE THE NEXT STEPS.
THEN AN AGREEMENT WILL HAVE TO BE APPROVED BY BOTH THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE RAILROAD COMPANY TO AGREE TO WHAT PERCENTAGE EACH ORGANIZATION WILL PAY TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT.
IF NEEDED, TRACKS WILL FIRST BE REPLACED, THEN FINAL ENGINEERING PLANS ARE COMPLETED.
AFTER THAT, THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE BEGINS WHEN THE SELECTED CONTRACTOR OBTAINS A PERMIT FROM THE RAILROAD COMPANY.
ONLY THEN ACTUAL PAVEMENT WORK CAN BEGIN.
THANKFULLY, A NEW PAVEMENT DESIGN FOR STREET APPROACHES TO RAILROAD TRACKS IS BEING USED.
THIS WILL HELP PROTECT THE CROSSINGS FROM REOCCURRING ISSUES.
INSTEAD OF USING CONCRETE, ASPHALT IS PLACED ON EACH APPROACH.
THIS ENABLES SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS IN FUTURE FOR A SMOOTHER RIDE ACROSS THE TRACKS.
IT'S JUST EASIER TO ADD OR REMOVE ASPHALT RATHER THAN MAKING ADJUSTMENTS WITH CONCRETE.
THIS HELPS EXTEND THE RAILROAD CROSSING'S LIFE.
IT MEANS LESS REOCCURRING CONSTRUCTION AND FEWER DELAYS FOR YOU.
SO WHAT'S NEXT? THE STREET DEPARTMENT STARTED THE PROCESS OF RENOVATING EIGHT RAILROAD CROSSINGS.
SOME ARE ALREADY COMPLETED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION, BUT OTHERS ARE IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE APPROVAL PROCESS.
ALL SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
THESE ARE LOCATED AT NORTH FIRST STREET, NORTH OF CASTLE DRIVE, EAST BUCKINGHAM ROAD, WEST OF STATE HIGHWAY 78 FOREST LANE AT SOUTH SHILOH FOREST LANE BETWEEN KIRBY STREET AND INTERNATIONAL ROAD, WEST KINGSLEY BETWEEN MARKET STREET AND SOUTH SHILOH, KINGSLEY BETWEEN NATIONAL DRIVE AND INTERNATIONAL LANE, WEST MILLER BETWEEN SHERWIN STREET AND SOUTH SHILOH, AND AT JUPITER SOUTH OF FOREST LANE.
THAT LEAVES 43 REMAINING, BUT FOUR MORE CROSSINGS ARE GOING TO BE UPDATED AS PART OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
THE CITY COUNCIL HAS APPROVED A CONTRACT WITH A CONSULTANT TO EVALUATE THE REMAINING 39 CROSSINGS.
THIS MEANS THE STREET DEPARTMENT WILL BE ABLE TO ASSESS THE NEEDS AND DETERMINE FUNDING STRATEGIES FOR THESE IMPROVEMENTS AS THEY ESTABLISH CONSTRUCTION PRIORITY FOR THE CROSSINGS.
WE'RE EXCITED FOR THESE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
WE KNOW THAT THESE CAN TAKE SOME TIME TO COMPLETE AND CAUSE SOME INCONVENIENCE.
SO WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PATIENCE.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING ON THE STREETS AND ALLEYS OF GARLAND, VISIT STREET.GARLANDTX.GOV AND SUBSCRIBE TO STREET TALK, OUR NEWSLETTER. FOR STREET TALK, I'M PATTY MORAN.
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.