Council approves first five-year street maintenance plan

By LYNETTE SOWELL-STEVENS

Cove Leader-Press

Since the start of the monthly street maintenance fee added to Copperas Cove utility bills as of January 1, the City of Copperas Cove has collected approximately $1 million as of July 23.

So far, the projects have not started for one reason until now: the development of the City’s first five-year street maintenance plan (SMP).

The City has worked with the Halff Associates group to develop the plan, which was presented to the Copperas Cove city council on Tuesday evening.

Project Manager Hossein Roshani, Ph.D., P.E. originally developed the City’s pavement condition assessment that was first presented back in 2021. Roshani completed a fresh assessment of the city’s 168.6 center line miles of streets, the report for which he gave to the council on Tuesday.

The plan outlines top priority areas to work on first.

There are nine projects to include:

Veterans Avenue from Robertson Avenue to Babb Street;

West Avenue D from South 7th Street to Myra Lou Avenue;

West Avenue E from South 2nd Street to South 25th Street;

West Avenue F from South 1st Street to West Avenue E;

Courtney Lane from North FM 116 to Fairbanks Avenue;

Cline Drive from West U.S. Highway 190 to 1304 Cline Drive;

Grimes Crossing from the railroad tracks to the dead end;

Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from East Business Highway 190 to Robert Griffin III Drive;

Robert Griffin III Drive from East Business Highway 190 to Constitution Drive.

The estimated total for all the priority projects is roughly $12.8 million.

The program will begin with the reconstruction of Veterans Avenue, funded through the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget and scheduled for construction in 2027 at an estimated cost of $1.82 million, followed by West Avenue D in 2027 at $1.18 million.

West Avenue E is proposed for 2028 with an estimated construction cost of $2.17 million, while West Avenue F is scheduled for 2029 at $857,800.

In 2030, improvements are planned for Courtney Lane ($1.2 million) and Cline Drive ($544,500).

After the presentation and prior to the council voting to approve the SMP, councilmember Jack Smith asked about other projects such as potholes.

“I know this addresses a lot of the major projects, but the Street Department is still going to be maintaining and fixing potholes and doing vegetation removal and all that throughout the year as needed?”

Public Works Director Scott Osburn said those things will continue in the existing operation and maintenance budget.

“Our goal is to continue to do those herbicide treatments, continue to do the crack sealing and the point repairs to the extent that we have money available in those funds,” Osburn said. “Obviously with Dr. Hossein’s proposed plan, as we’ve discussed in the past, this is not a perfect plan. This does not accomplish everything we need to; however, this is a start, and it’s a prioritized start based on the funding that we have available.”

Three additional projects are identified for implementation beyond the initial five-year program, including Grimes Crossing in 2031 ($1.55 million), Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in 2032 ($1.82 million), and Robert Griffin III Drive in 2033 ($1.65 million).

The City provided anticipated funding levels for the five-year planning period, including both contracted street maintenance activities and planned in-house maintenance efforts.

For 2026-2027, $1,219,310; 2027-2028, $1,594,000; 2028-2029, $1,594,000; 2029-2030, $1,745,000, and 2030-2031, $1,797,000; for a total of $7,949,310 over the next five years, plus $100,000 spent from the in-house maintenance budget.

More than half of Copperas Cove’s street network is in need of significant rehabilitation, according to the SMP. Approximately 55 percent of the city’s pavement network is classified in poor or failed condition, while only 32 percent is rated good or excellent. The remaining 13 percent falls into the fair category.

Since October 2023, the City of Copperas Cove’s Street Maintenance Division has completed 18 roadway improvement projects totaling $1,160,363.37 in street maintenance.

The projects included mill and overlay work on

Hardeman Street ($95,172.50);

Walker Place Boulevard ($43,600);

Pony Express Lane ($156,520);

Winchester Drive ($61,374.30);

Pinto Drive ($80,668.62);

Bronc Drive ($67,508.95);

Walt Morgan Circle ($147,460);

Industrial Avenue ($88,257.60);

Texas Street ($169,626.40);

Freedom Lane ($156,520);

Oak Hill Drive and Deer Flat Drive reconstruction ($89,287);

localized repairs at 1101 Magnolia Ave. ($2,275) and the 1800 block of Bowan Avenue ($2,093).

Additional mill and overlay projects completed in July 2026 included Tyler Drive, Whitney Drive, Phyllis Drive and Emerson Drive, although individual project costs were not listed in the presentation.