A project to add sidewalks, lighting and bicycle trails on Main Street through Salado could be put out for bid in 2019.

Michael J. Bolin, PE, director of transportation Planning and Development for Waco District Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) told Salado Village Voice that $1.6 million in federal funds have been secured so far on the project.

Bolin, along with other TXDOT officials and Innovative Solutions LLC engineers, were on hand for a town hall meeting in Salado on Aug. 15 to discuss the project with local citizens.

The project is estimated by Killeen Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization (KTMPO) at $3.8 million. No estimate of the cost for the project could be found on the TXDOT website after the meeting.

The project, in its preliminary design, will take no additional right-of-way, according to Bolin.

The project will have six foot concrete sidewalks on both sides of Main Street from College Hill to Salado Plaza Dr. From Thomas Arnold north to Salado Plaza Dr., the project will include bike lanes along the asphalt with striping to separate the bike lanes from the cars and trucks lanes.  On the outside of the asphalted lanes will be concrete sidewalks and drainage.

“The right of way is very tight south of Thomas Arnold,” said Abram VanElswyk, PE, who is designing the project for IS, LLC. “We won’t be able to have the bike lanes south of that.”

The project will include work on drainage, including some closed storm sewer drains, VanElswyk said.

“We wanted to preserve as much of the parking as possible,” he added. In order to do that, and to ensure safety for cyclists, some parking will be parallel and other parking along Main Street will be back-in angled parking.

VanElswyk explained that back-in angled parking is necessary for the safety of cyclists because it creates a line of vision between the cyclists and drivers pulling out onto the road.

The project also preserves driveway cuts for property owners.

The bridge over Campbell Branch will be replaced as part of the project.

VanElswyk told Salado Village Voice that the Campbell Branch bridge (just north of Rock Creek drive) could be replaced in as little as three weeks if traffic on Main Street were diverted to the access roads during that time.

Bolin told Salado Village Voice that the current plan is to partially close traffic over the Campbell Branch during the reconstruction of the culvert and bridge.

Van Elswyck estimated the construction period for the project at six to eight months. “I don’t see it going 12 months,” he told Salado Village Voice.

Bolin estimated construction at 12-15 months.

Both said that the cost estimates and time estimates could change with the final designs of the project.

Kenneth Roberts, public information officer for TXDOT Waco Region, told Salado Village Voice that schematics of the project would be available online after the meeting.