The Future of Greater Waco's Infrastructure

Greater Waco is fortunate to be a place where collaboration is more than a word; it’s a way of ensuring that business gets done and the community continues to thrive. The City of Waco and McLennan County work closely together, with many other entities in the community, to ensure that projects in both jurisdictions are completed to support Greater Waco’s growing population. We sat down with City of Waco Mayor Dillon Meek and McLennan County Judge Scott Felton to learn about upcoming projects and the future of infrastructure in Greater Waco!

What impact did the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act have on Greater Waco’s infrastructure projects? What additional funding is in place to support new projects?

Mayor Meek: We really are just starting to see some of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding become available locally. Once the IIJA was signed into law in November 2021, that authorization went to the various federal agencies to begin their processes of implementing programming and allocating funding. We were excited to observe the development of those programs throughout 2022 and to begin to apply for funding over the course of the last six to nine months. The IIJA has opened doors for the City to apply for competitive grant funding on some significant local infrastructure projects, particularly bridges, that we otherwise have not been able to fund at this point in time.

By nature, bridges are complicated and expensive projects. Waco has applied for planning and construction grants for several bridge projects in and around Waco. While we were not awarded all our planning grant applications, we are grateful to be one of the 22 entities nationwide to receive a 2022 Planning Grant award under the Bridge Investment Program. Of the $20 million allocated across the nation, Waco was awarded an $800k planning grant for the Primrose Bridge, which will allow us to assess solutions to capacity and flooding issues that impact that area, particularly during inclement weather. We are still awaiting notification on awards for construction applications under the Bridge Investment Program (at the time of writing) but are hopeful to receive funding to complete the expansion and replacement of the Speegleville Bridge over the Middle Bosque River.

Judge Felton: The County has engaged a grant consulting firm to help us navigate this Act and to look for available funds that are a fit for the County. We have already submitted some grant pre-applications. The County will look to acquire funding for culverts, bridges and road repair, as needed.

In addition to new funding made available to us, the County has judiciously used General Obligation Bonds to have funds available for road construction and other projects. The County has also begun budgeting funds for bridge and low water crossing projects.

Now that the I-35 project is complete, what additional road projects are underway or in the planning stages for our community?

Mayor Meek: One exciting and forwardleaning project that has gone for funding application to the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program is for development of a Smart Corridor Plan, facilitated by the Waco Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). If awarded, the MPO will develop a Smart Corridor Plan within Waco that aligns with the RAISE program’s aim of investing in surface transportation that will have a significant local or regional impact. Such a project includes planning, design, and engineering work for a Smart Network Corridor- a comprehensive mobility space utilizing smart network technologies to maximize access and ensure system-wide gains in safety, climate benefits, disaster preparedness, and resiliency. Similar projects (upon completion and build out) in other cities have included free public wi-fi access, interactive functionalities, dynamic traffic signals, and related smart infrastructure.

Waco also has a dynamic street program. The City of Waco’s Pavement Management Program performs an annual review that identifies which city streets should receive specific applications to lengthen the life of their surface. These city streets are selected by conducting a pavement surface inspection and calculating an overall pavement condition index rating.

The city council requested the Public Works Department to provide fundamentally reliable data to support the specific selection of streets identified, annually, for consideration, and to create the template for balancing funding allocations per year — and now they have it. While the City’s legacy database system rating was only updated once every other year, Public Works is now leveraging real-time asset condition, work resources, and data to formulate decisions utilizing a software program called Cartegraph.

Cartegraph models pavement condition and how it deteriorates over time. These prediction models can be used to predict pavement condition for a number of different proposed treatments. Through the degradation curve algorithms built into Cartegraph, Public Works can now prepare a comprehensive street preventive maintenance and repair program that optimizes the available funding to improve the street system condition rating to the maximum extent possible. This system allows us to predict and plan cost efficient street projects for much longer terms (five, ten, twenty years) providing City Management with the ability to evaluate funding mechanisms and scenarios. More importantly, we’re able to address the needs of the pavement before it becomes a very costly investment.

The goal of Waco’s program is to create an overall plan that will support revitalizing our complete network to achieve and maintain a state of relatively good condition and prevent streets from falling into such a state of disrepair that they must be reconstructed. Preserving a street through a surface seal or similar treatment is four to five times more cost effective than waiting to repair a street until after it requires reconstruction.

Judge Felton: McLennan County is currently under construction on a $8.8 million Chapel Road improvement project, which will greatly improve efficiency and safety for commuters while connecting to critical transportation routes. In addition, we are working on a project to help with erosion on Bullhide Creek Road.

With the recent focus on broadband and energy, how are these facets of infrastructure supporting current and future Wacoans?

Mayor Meek: In the post-pandemic era, as more and more of our workforce have moved to remote or hybrid-remote solutions and schools have implemented online learning solutions, we have realized across the nation the importance of, and the need for, reliable access to broadband, cybersecurity, and energy. As we think about maintaining and improving the connectivity and infrastructure that already exists in our region, we also must think about where future development needs might be and ensure the extension of appropriate infrastructure as we grow into those spaces.

We are excited for Waco to receive just over $187,000 of formula funding as part of the IIJA’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. As we explore the federal guidance for use of these funds, we look forward to programming some pilot projects for the Waco area regarding energy efficiency and energy usage reduction.

Following Winter Storm Uri in 2021, Waco has focused on building upon not only our energy efficiency but also implementing additional resiliency measures. You’ve seen this as we’ve established community warming and cooling centers for subsequent inclement weather events. We’ve made moves to ensure functionality of those centers to operate even in the event of a power outage or grid failure. As part of those same resiliency efforts, the City spent $3 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding to purchase and install backup generators for the Riverside Water Treatment Plan and the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant to guarantee continuous water and sanitary sewer services even during times when electrical power may be interrupted or unavailable.

Judge Felton: The Comptroller’s Office has prepared a Texas Broadband Development Map. In reviewing that map, the vast majority of McLennan County has broadband coverage, with the higher speed availability in the heart of the County. Further out into the County, the coverage does become spottier, with some areas that are considered “underserved” and some that have no coverage at all. Our grant consultant is actively visiting with broadband companies and looking into funding through the Texas Broadband Development Office. I view this as a community-wide issue, and the County will explore options to partner with other entities, as well.

What is our community planning to ensure that Greater Waco has an adequate water supply?

Mayor Meek: I’m so thankful for the dedicated work of Congressman Sessions and his efforts to secure federal appropriations for critical projects here in Waco. The recent drought here in Central Texas has only further highlighted the importance of careful stewardship of our water resources.

In the FY23 federal budget cycle we received a $3 million allocation for planning and engineering work to increase future capacity at the Bull Hide Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Increased treatment capacity at this plant supports growth and development for the southern part of McLennan County including Waco, Hewitt, and Lorena. In the FY22 federal budget cycle, we received $1.7 million for the Flat Creek Water Reuse project, and we have recently requested additional funding in the upcoming FY24 federal budget. Development of this project will allow us to divert reclaimed water from the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant to the industrial district for non-potable industrial uses, such as in cooling systems, so that treated drinking water can be preserved for actual drinking water uses both in Waco and the surrounding communities that we supply with water.

Judge Felton: Many of the rural water systems in eastern McLennan County are facing fines and penalties from the EPA due to arsenic levels in the water. The County has obligated $4.4 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to help with this challenge and has already issued checks to two water supply companies to help their efforts.

Additionally, we are looking at opportunities to leverage the expansion of water service to encourage economic development. This could be water line extensions, backup generation equipment, and updated technology, such as smart meters.

The County has successfully applied for and received Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to help the unincorporated community of Elm Mott with water and sewer improvements.

What influence do both economic and population growth have on infrastructure projects? Given the strategic planning and ongoing execution of these infrastructure projects, what will life in Greater Waco look like for future Wacoans?

Mayor Meek: It is an incredible time to be in Waco because there is an unprecedented opportunity for smart growth. There is energy and excitement around the growth opportunities here now, but from a leadership perspective, we know that infrastructure planning is more critical than ever. Waco will undoubtedly grow, but I believe we can grow in a way that maintains our values and culture, so Waco always feels like Waco. One important aspect to this is ensuring that the quality of life and ease of transporting around town is maintained (and improved) rather than diminished by growth. We are committed to long-range planning on all infrastructure.

Judge Felton: Population growth places a strain on existing infrastructure and causes already aged or weak infrastructure to fail sooner than anticipated. Economic growth is critical to cover these costs. This allows us to be able to cover the costs of long term financing to pay for these improvements now.

Wacoans and McLennan County residents can expect to experience more traffic on the roads and higher frustrations on the commute to work until these improvement projects are completed. Higher demand for construction materials will be met with higher supply costs. A higher tax burden on existing and future taxable assets will may be necessary to cover those inflationary purchases; however, assuming we have a growing tax base, there will be minimal increased tax cost on owners of residences and businesses over the long term.