During the September 18, 2023, Jersey Village City Council Meeting, citizen comments were made regarding a full-traffic bridge to replace the walk-only bridge currently at Ecuador. Below is a link to the video recording of Jo Hewett making her comments, followed by the response from Mayor Bobby Warren. The mayor states that no serious discussion has been had and there are no current plans to replace the current bridge with either a full-traffic or walk-only bridge. However, the city website for the “2023 Bond Proposal” says:
“Streets improvements:
Our street CIP has been updated with more accurate numbers as costs have risen since last year. Our next streets would include Congo, followed by Singapore, Australia Solomon and Seattle with an estimate of roughly 15.5 million factoring in inflation. This estimate factors in water and sewer upgrades as well making these streets a full rehab. In addition, the Equador pedestrian bridge could also be included bringing the total estimation to 18 million.
The Council may also want to consider a full traffic bridge on Equador to alleviate school traffic congestion through the neighborhood, rather than just doing a pedestrian bridge.”
The Jersey Village Voters are being asked to approve $2.5 million for a bridge that has been discussed for less than five minutes and no decision has been made to even consider constructing it. There are no details contained within any of the three propositions that will be on the ballot that will tie any of the $53 million to any specific future projects. Voter approval of the sale of the bonds gives future council members a blank check to spend up to $53 million on projects of their choosing without any future voter approval.
Click on the link below and then turn on the speaker to hear the audio.
https://jerseyvillagetx.new.swagit.com/videos/271834?ts=2270