Council Greenlights $10M for Stillwater's Streets and Sidewalks

The Stillwater City Council unanimously approved a $10 million Pavement Management Plan for fiscal year 2026, funded by the city's dedicated transportation sales tax. The plan addresses road reconstruction, sidewalk improvements, and various maintenance projects throughout the city's transportation network.

The plan allocates $2.23 million for full reconstruction projects on three major streets: Mathews from Duck to Husband, 10th from Lewis to Lowry, 26th from Western to Main and intersection improvements at 19th and Western. An additional $1 million is designated for various sidewalk improvements, while $3 million covers pavement maintenance treatments including mill and overlay, seal coating, and striping.

"We've been working with consultants to package projects more efficiently," said Bill Millis, Director of Engineering. "We've got one consultant working on one program, whereas historically we might have had three or eight different consultants on separate projects."

The Transportation Sales Tax Fund maintains a balance of approximately $27.5 million, including the $10 million projected in FY26 and carry-forward funds of yet-to-be-completed projects from previous pavement management plans. The one-cent sales tax is dedicated exclusively to transportation system repair, restoration, widening, reconstruction, retrofitting, safety, and mobility.

City staff has made significant progress addressing a backlog of transportation projects from previous years. Millis explained the city had overlapping pavement management plans that created challenges.

"We did a five-year plan in 2021 and then we did another plan in 2025," Millis said. "So we kind of doubled up on that year. We've closed out all 2018, 2019 and 2020, 2021 and 2022 are nearly there, but not quite."

The plan includes $1.08 million for public works maintenance capital projects, covering replacement of obsolete signal communication systems, battery backups at signalized intersections, and signal conversions from loops to cameras at two locations.

The city has implemented a feedback system called Sidewalk Connect to help residents report gaps in sidewalk connectivity. Since last fall, the system has received more than 80 requests from residents identifying areas needing sidewalk improvements.

"We developed an app on the website called Sidewalk Connect meant for customers to be able to bring to our attention typically gaps in the sidewalk," Millis said. "Whether it's a gap in front of one house or a missing ramp or a whole block of sidewalk where completion would really open up a long corridor."

Mayor Will Joyce asked about sidewalk construction costs, noting the expense of such improvements. Millis responded that sidewalk construction costs approximately $100 per square yard.

"A hundred dollars a yard," Millis said. "And so a square yard is three feet wide. Three feet of sidewalk."

City Manager Brady Moore noted that the Transportation Projects Advisory Committee has been instrumental in reviewing and prioritizing projects. The committee recommended approval of the fiscal year 2026 plan at their July 24 meeting.

"They've been very grateful for staff's work, how they've cleaned up all these old projects and really started to move forward on these new pavement management plans," Moore said.

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Councilor Christie Hawkins emphasized the importance of the city's systematic approach to street prioritization, noting it helps staff respond to resident inquiries about when specific streets will receive attention.

"I think it's always good to know that we do these types of assessments because I'm sure all of us have people that say when are y'all going to get to X Street? It's the worst in the city," Hawkins said. "And we can always say we do an assessment of the entire city and we know which streets are the worst and those are the ones we're focusing on."

The Pavement Management Program uses a systematic process for inspection, evaluation, planning, improvements, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the city's transportation network. Staff performs engineering analysis of available strategies for particular roadway segments based on pavement conditions from the most recent inventory, coordination with other projects, traffic volumes, and field inspections.

The city conducts pavement condition surveys every five years, driving every mile of street with specialized equipment that uses radar, video, and weight testing to assess road deflection. This data helps determine appropriate treatments for different road segments, from seal coating to complete reconstruction.

Several major transportation projects have been completed recently, including the Block 34 improvements, 3rd Avenue and Husband Street bridges, Airport Road, Park Drive and Harned Avenue projects, and 7th Avenue from Main to Lewis.

Current projects under construction include work on Monticello, Hall of Fame, Manning and McElroy streets. The Hall of Fame work was completed before students returned to Oklahoma State University, while other projects continue with expected completion dates extending into early 2026.

Staff will return to City Council to request authorization of expenditures in the form of consulting agreements, construction bid awards, contracts, and related documents as individual projects become ready for approval and execution.

📺 Watch the presentation to City Council