COLLEGE STATION, Texas — City council members are looking to see how they can make College Station better for the long run.
On Thursday night, members approved a new project between the city and Union Pacific railroad company to construct a railroad crossing at the intersection of deacon drive and Fm 2154. With this new railroad, officials will close the exit crossing at Cain road and Fm 2154.
While officials are still working out the details of this $5.7 million project, it could start as early as this year.
"The crossing at Cain road right now is a dangerous crossing. We have had 18 wheelers get stuck on it there's a lot of traffic coming out of Cain Road because the Barracks is right there so this is a safety project but will also increase the east-west mobility," said Assistant Director Capital Projects, Emily Fischer.
The 2021-2022 annual budget was also approved. Starting on October 1st locals will have to pay five dollars extra every month totaling about 65.00 extra dollars a year due to the rising housing value in the area.
"This has been an interesting year and half that we have had with COVID and everything where we had to make some reductions last year we are cautiously coming back from that we have seen our sales revenue come in stronger than we have anticipated which has been a positive thing for the city and local economy," said Jeff Kersten, Assistant City Manager.
Kersten says it's a good thing that housing value has gone up, it shows our economy recovering well.
Officials are also discussing changes to local subdivisions, land sizes are one of the focus.