Two more items of interest before the city council today, including agenda item No. 56: spending $16,748,070 to fix the White Rock Lake spillway, which was damaged during the storms of March 2006. Notes the agenda of the long-simmering redo, "The project addresses the reconstruction or repair of all damaged and deteriorated elements of the spillway, while improving aesthetics of the surrounding area. ... The construction consists of new retaining walls, a safer pedestrian trail, a promenade area, and an improved parking lot off Winsted Drive, along with other enhancements." Construction will be handled by Rebcon -- whose Web site is also under construction -- and is scheduled to begin in September, with a guesstimated end date of April 2010.
The council will also vote today whether or not to give Kansas City, Missouri-based TranSystems Corporation $340,405 worth of bond money for the "engineering design of Deep Ellum Streetscape." Which is? "This Streetscape project includes grading, landscape, pedestrian lighting, signage, irrigation system, and stormwater improvements." Only, it will not encompass the entirety of the neighborhood: According to the agenda, the streetscapes will run down Commerce Street from Good Latimer Expressway to Hall Street; down Elm Street, also from Good Latimer to Hall; and down Good Latimer, from Elm to Commerce. The design is supposed to be completed by September '09; no word on actual implementation. --Robert Wilonsky
