CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Plans for a new elementary school near Yorktown and the Oso Creek bridge have the City looking at new road improvements for the area.
"If you look at the neighborhood behind me on my left here it's the Rancho Vista neighborhood. The only way they can get out is to make a left hand turn on a two lane highway where people are driving 50 miles an hour," said Corpus Christi Councilman Gil Hernandez. "So it's important not only that we widen this road and make it more safe, but also there's further development down the road."
Hernandez is referring to the $20 million bond project to widen and improve Yorktown Road from Rodd Field to the Oso Creek bridge. Of the $125 million 2022 bond, this is the biggest road project out of the $92.5 million for road and street improvements.
Director of City Engineering Services, Jeff Edmonds said an elementary school being built on Starry Road is just one reason why the improvements are needed now.
"It's not just the school. There's a tremendous amount of development pressure in that area," Edmonds said.
The development also includes the building nearby of Del Mar's new Oso Creek campus.
The section of Yorktown from the Oso Creek bridge all the way to Rodd Field is the section that's going to be targeted in the bond project. Officials say construction could begin by the end of the year.
But that isn't the only project in the area.
If approved by voters in November, $10 million is earmarked for swimming pools at Bill Witt Park.
"It's going to have two outdoor pools. It's going to have a recreation pool plus a lap, competition pool," Edmonds said.
Hernandez said that the improvements are much needed.
"We've had some very high profile drownings of some of our young people," Edmonds said. "We're surrounded by water as a community on the coast. It's important that our kids know how to swim and we can't do that if we don't have the facilities."
Hernandez adds, "because of the growth out here we really need to improve the infrastructure out here."
For a complete breakdown of the 2022 bond, click here.
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