ABILENE, TX – The Abilene City Council is scheduled to meet this Thursday with a lengthy agenda that includes some street repairs and renovations downtown.
The council is considering a proposal to resurface Southwest Drive, where there is a lot of traffic near the Winters freeway. Assistant City Manager Michael Rice says they get a lot of complaints about the intersection.
“Is it the worst? I wouldn’t know if it’s the worst, but it is one that does receive a lot of traffic, so we’re trying to address those major roads because this is one that gets a lot of complaints,” said Rice.
Rice says the project would cost $860,000 and the money would come from the street maintenance fund.
Convention Center Manager Molly Moser is asking the council to approve a plan to work on the north side of the convention center. The renovations include redoing the front concrete stairs, adding adequate lighting, and fixing the areas around the trees. It would be the first big improvement project since the area was finished more than 30 years ago.
“The plaza was constructed when the conference room expansion happened in 1990 so that has been a few years, so we really are desperately needing this to happen,” said Moser.
Moser says the entire project will cost around $1.3 million and they hope it will only take 6 to 8 months.
Also on the agenda is the old Travis School building.
A development group is wanting to turn it into a new facility for low-income senior housing.
Michael Warrix, director of planning and development services, says the group has to apply.
“No, it’s not a done deal, they’re in the application stage at this point, so they will be submitting an application with a resolution that they are asking council to adopt,” said Warrix.
