Caden Jones of the Destination Bryan tourism office visits with WTAW’s Bill Oliver about December’s First Friday, the upcoming downtown Bryan lighted Christmas parade, and a setting a record in October for hotel revenue.
Listen to “Destination Bryan tourism office update for December 2023” on Spreaker.
Trudy Hancock, Brazos County Elections Administrator, visits with WTAW’s Scott DeLucia about sample ballots, voter registration roll accuracy, mail-in ballots, changes in polling places, the need for election workers, and more during her appearance on The Infomaniacs on Thursday, September 12, 2024. Listen to “Brazos County Elections Administrator on The Infomaniacs” on Spreaker.
Progress continues on a variety of capital and parks projects in Bryan. City manager Kean Register’s update at this week’s city council meeting (September 10) included road construction in and near Midtown Park. The update included completion coming soon to projects at four other city parks. Since August of 2020, Bryan city officials have discussed drainage improvements south of the Blinn campus on Bristol Street and Esther Boulevard. Construction was slated to start last March. Register said Tuesday that construction is scheduled to begin this month. The scope includes added drainage structures and bike lanes and a pedestrian path along Esther to 29th Street. Completion is expected by the end of 2025. Gateway signs being built along Highway 21 and Highway six are expected to be completed next month. The manager’s report did not include the expected completion of the Phillips Events Center, which has been closed since water damage from Winter Storm Uri in 2021. Click below to hear comments from Kean Register during the September 10, 2024 Bryan city council meeting. Information from the city of Bryan: CITY OF BRYAN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS • As part of the South College Avenue Project, Larry Young Paving has finished concrete work in the northbound lane from Villa Maria to Bizzell and started work yesterday on the southbound lane for the same stretch. The next work will focus on driveways and sidewalks, with the goal that this section of roadway to open by October. • Midtown Boardwalk Way construction is wrapping up, with only light poles and landscaping remaining and should complete ahead of schedule this Fall. • Old Hearne Road Phase 1 is open to traffic from Wilhelm to Texas Avenue and completion is anticipated by end of the year. • With an exception of culvert modifications to the MLK culvert, the Quiet Zone Downtown construction has wrapped up. The MLK Culvert and 23rd Street curbs should be constructed and finished by first week of October. The plans for Phase 2 have been submitted for review to Union Pacific’s representative. • Construction continues on the Highway 21 and Highway 6 Gateway Monument Signs. The lettering on the sign is scheduled to be delivered and installed by mid-month, with the overall project expected to complete in October. • Utility installation and concrete work from Holt Street to Lee Avenue as part of the Commerce Street Reconstruction project is complete, leaving the work from Lee to Beck Street remaining. The project should complete in early 2025. • The Sulphur Springs Roadway, Sanitary, and Waterline Rehabilitation project will provide roadway, sidewalk, water, and sewer improvements within an area bounded by Sulphur Springs Road, East Villa Maria Road, South College Avenue, and Cavitt Avenue. Construction began in February and should be completed by the end of 2024. • The Bristol St. and Esther Blvd Drainage Improvements project is scheduled to begin this month and is expected to complete by end of 2025. The scope includes added drainage structures and bike lanes and a pedestrian path along Esther to 29th Street. • The Hillside Dr/Old Oaks Drainage Improvements project is underway and will complete by end of the year. The contractor recently finished the intersection at Old Oaks/Hillside and is moving north on Hillside. Greenridge should be complete by the end of this week, with only work on Hillside left to finish out this project. • The Traffic Signal Replacement for Villa Maria at Briarcrest & Briarcrest at Broadmoor is underway with completion by end of the year. The contractor has installed new signal foundations at both intersections and will finish boring new conduit connections this month. Flatwork at the intersection of Briarcrest and Villa Maria will begin in late September and require closure of the outside westbound lane for a few weeks. PARKS AND POOLS UPDATES: • The replacement of Bridge #6 at the City Course is in progress, with an anticipated completion date of September 16th. • The contractor has completed the assembly of both Tanglewood Park and Bonham Park playground structures, and is currently in the process of installing aggregate base material in preparation for the bonded shredded rubber fall zone installation. • Staff is installing trees/plants in Redbud Park to improve landscaping throughout the park. • Last week, staff brought in organic material for the sod installation for the Austin’s Colony Park Erosion/Turf Repairs.
Residents of a west Bryan neighborhood are successful in their appeal to the Bryan city council to keep a convenience store from being built off of Harvey Mitchell Parkway between Highway 21 and Sandy Point Road. A unanimous council vote at the end of a 90 minute discussion during Tuesday’s meeting (September 10) denied a conditional use permit that the planning and zoning commission approved in August on a 5-3 vote. The council agreed with 13 residents of the Pleasant Hill subdivision who said that the location of the c-store, which would be accessible only from Smith Lake Boulevard, would create more neighborhood traffic by motorists going through as a shortcut to Lake Bryan. Mayor Bobby Gutierrez and councilman Jared Salvato told the residents to expect the c-store to be built at the north edge of the subdivision along Sandy Point Road. The council was told that homes have been built at 600 of the 1,800 lots at Pleasant Hill. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from Pleasant Hill residents, provided by the city of Bryan. Click HERE to read and download background information from the city of Bryan. Click HERE to read and download the city of Bryan staff report. Click below to hear a montage of comments from the September 10, 2024 Bryan city council meeting. Listen to “Bryan city council grants homeowners appeal to block construction of a convenience store” on Spreaker.
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