City debates Rock Prairie Road design and public‑works HQ site study as CIP projects advance

City capital projects staff updated the City Council on June 26 about the Rock Prairie Road widening, a feasibility study for a new Public Works headquarters and related corridor design and land‑acquisition issues.

Jennifer King, capital projects manager, reported that the Rock Prairie Road project between State Highway 6 and Town Lake is already under construction and that the next design segment (Town Lake to Dublin Parkway) is in 90 percent design with completion of construction expected in September 2025 for the current phase. King emphasized that land acquisition is now the critical path for the next segment, with about 10 property negotiations underway and an anticipated one‑ to two‑year acquisition period.

King also confirmed that the current road design is a three‑lane section with a center turn lane and separate bicycle facilities; the plans allow adding a fourth travel lane later without redoing the base pavement by shifting bike lanes to the shared‑use path and expanding the buffered roadway area. The design team is coordinating with three pipeline owners who have infrastructure in the corridor and will secure letters of no objection to work near their lines.

Council members asked how decisions about the Public Works headquarters site would affect Rock Prairie capacity and whether selecting the landfill‑adjacent site under study would require a widened Rock Prairie. King said the study for Public Works HQ includes geotechnical, environmental and traffic impact analyses; the city is performing geotech work on two candidate sites and expected geotechnical testing to begin shortly. She said the road design includes provisions to add a fourth lane in the future, but any physical roadway widening would require council funding and appropriate land acquisition.

King also reviewed other CIP projects (Lincoln Avenue, Krennick rehabilitation, new wells and park projects) and said staff expects the next well‑construction GMP packages later in the year. Council members asked staff to examine traffic impacts, turning lanes and deceleration lanes at any proposed public‑works site and to return with feasibility analysis when the site study is complete.