University Star

Bobby Scheidemann/Star photo

The City of San Marcos is nearing completion of the biggest and most expensive project in recent history at Wonder World Drive.

According to the city’s December 2009 projects briefing, the city has planned street, wastewater, drainage and electric projects totaling more than $65 million in 2010. An amount of $48 million of this will be spent on the Wonder World Drive extension.

“After financing the debt, (Wonder World Drive extension) will probably be in the $60 million range,” said Mayor Suzan Narvaiz. “This is less than we anticipated, but it’s still a lot of money.”

The Wonder World extension includes $10 million and $60 million appropriations from the federal government and state respectively that will be paid to the city over time, Narvaiz said.

“The reason it’s so expensive is because we had to build a three-mile bridge over the recharge zone,” she said.

Narvaiz said flood plains and an Indian burial ground prevented the city from building the road “at grade” (ground level).

The project would still be in the works had it not been for what the Mayor called “pass through financing.” San Marcos residents contributed the money needed to design and begin the project. TXDOT will reimburse the city based on the amount of traffic passing through the area each year.

Kellogg, Brown and Root, a multi-national corporation based in Houston, is the project manager for the extension.

KBR made headlines during the Iraq reconstruction in 2003 and 2004, prompting a federal investigation into privatized services. The services included housing, potable water and food for American soldiers as well as transportation of goods such as fuel and weapons.

KBR electricians were blamed in the electrocution deaths of numerous American soldiers using the company’s showers.

KBR has denied any wrong doing in Iraq and, in a press release, defended its commitment to provide the military services that “allow troops to focus on their combat mission.”

Students and community members protested the city’s choice of KBR during the design and planning phase of the Wonder World extension. They cited the city’s process by which KBR was selected.

Despite the company’s controversial international record, the Wonder World Drive extension is months ahead of schedule and is expected to be completed in April.

Other major projects include the Hutchison Street drainage project, which will be the first downtown project in 2010, according to City Councilmember Kim Porterfield, Place 1.

“This project is very exciting,” Porterfield said. “It will impact drainage, sidewalks and streets in the area around Hutchison, LBJ and downtown.”

The price approximate value of the Hutchison contract is $3.4 million.

Students living on North LBJ between Sessom Drive and Holland Street will see road reconstruction to the tune of $2.5 million. The stretch of road currently lacks sidewalks on the upper half. The project will install sidewalks and bike lanes on city-owned easements.

Bill Couch, San Marcos development projects coordinator, said the reason sidewalks and bike lanes do not already exist is because of landowners who, at times, can refuse to sell a portion of land the city needs for such infrastructure.

“The city will always try to minimize the impact on the neighborhood,” Couch said. “If a landowner has a building that is over an easement owned by the city, legally we could take that down. Would we? Probably not. We would pay them for the structure and build a sidewalk or build the sidewalk around the structure.”

Narvaiz agrees with this assertion.

“One homeowner can slow the project if they don’t wish to sell,” Narvaiz said. “There are times when we have to use imminent domain and that takes several months.”

Other projects are further in the future and include a commuter rail system that will run from North Austin through downtown San Marcos and into South San Antonio. The rail system will begin construction within 10 years and utilize existing tracks, which currently run through the downtown area.

“Conservatively it will cost us about $2 million a year,” Narvaiz said. “It will be worth it once you calculate all the traffic alleviation and new students it will bring.”