City of Lubbock engineer provides 2022 Road Bond progress update

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The street bond project that Lubbock voters approved back in 2022 is underway. Seventeen roadways will undergo improvements over the next three years. Although it has been two years since that bond was passed, the city still has miles to go.

Mike Keenum, City of Lubbock engineer says, “The roadway bond really helps us to address some of those pressing needs to build the infrastructure that we need to get traffic flowing like it should.”

That work is bound to lead to some growing pains along the way. Keenum says although his team hit the ground running once voters passed that bond in 2022, planning takes just as long as the action.

“Some of them have had some design issues, some of them had land acquisition issues,” Keenum said.

There are currently three roadways in the bond project that are actively under construction. Keenum says while the city had always planned for it to span five years, state-funded projects have made manning construction sites a challenge.

“Everybody is competing for resources, materials, personnel, labor I mean all of that is a challenge for sure for everyone trying to balance that. That is partly why we staggered ours as well we couldn’t just issue 15 projects all in one year,” Keenum said.

Keenum says the city is set to begin construction on four more streets later this year. Each site is estimated to take a year to a year and a half to complete, meaning closures and changes for the foreseeable future.

“Things are still moving,” he said. “Just sometimes you don’t see the active construction. I recognize that’s frustrating; it is frustrating for all of us,” Keenum said.

The bond project has an estimated three more years before it is complete. All in hopes of making Lubbock roadways safer. For a list of streets and more information on the projects, click here.