Medians Removed from South College Ave, Project Extended Due to Misplaced Fiberoptic Wires

By Emma Lawson | Apr 29, 2024

The reconstruction project of the South College Avenue from West Villa Maria Road to Carson Road in Bryan City will now proceed without medians. Instead, there will be a center turn lane. However, due to some unexpected snags involving telecommunications companies Frontier and Optimum, the project timeline has been extended.

Bryan City Council Special Meeting

In a special Bryan City Council meeting held on Thursday, it was revealed that the project would need an additional 140 working days due to errors from the telecommunication companies. The meeting also discussed the construction contract with Larry Young Paving, Inc, regarding the South College Avenue Phase One Reconstruction Project and a fourth amendment to the project.

The initial contract approval had taken place on March 28, 2023. Changes to the contract have been made since then, including revisions to landscaping and the style of the roundabout planter wall. Additionally, the construction had to be modified to install additional city-owned fiber optic cable.

Removal of Medians

In the city of Bryan, the question of medians has been heavily debated. A citizen-led group previously lobbied for the removal of these medians. Eventually, the council agreed not to put in more medians. The Bryan Mayor, Bobby Gutierrez, also took a stance against the medians. He stated that removing the median from the South College was the right move and lashed against the Texas Avenue project for duping them.

Change Order No. 4

Change Order No. 4 now eliminates the median construction from the South College Avenue plans. This construction change will lower the cost of the project. Due to no longer needing resources to construct the medians, the overall contract has been reduced by $303,732.26, a negative-1.9% change from the original contract, bringing the overall cost down from almost $16 million to $15.6 million.

The Delay

In addition to cost adjustments, the project timeline has also been adjusted. The construction, initially due for completion by December 2024, now has an additional nine months tacked. The reason behind the delay is that fiberoptic lines were incorrectly installed by Frontier and Optimum. The revised completion time is estimated to be the end of 2025.

The contractor, initially seeking additional funds from the city to compensate for lost time, will not receive this from the city budget. Instead, they are likely to seek $1 million in compensation from the fiber companies for their errors.

The consensus during the city’s council meeting was to approve the resolutions which remove the medians and grant the contractor additional time to complete the work. This ensures that the construction continues, albeit delayed, in line with the revised plans.

Despite the setbacks and delays, the Bryan City Council remains devoted to ensuring the project’s successful completion. The expected benefits of this project, once completed, will be improved traffic flow and encouraging safer and more efficient travel for the citizens of Bryan City.

Author

Emma Lawson is a seasoned journalist specializing in local issues and urban development. She has been reporting on the Bryan City Council for over three years.