City of College Station Blog

By Caroline Ask, Solid Waste Division Manager

National Public Works Week is celebrated each May to recognize the thousands of public works professionals who plan, build, and operate the nation’s infrastructure and programs to provide the highest quality of life for their communities.

Over 120 City of College Station public works professionals maintain our roadways, ensure our storm systems flow smoothly, provide daily solid waste collections, map infrastructure, and much more. In addition to many daily tasks and duties, our public works team manages specialty areas such as traffic engineering analysis, city vehicles and equipment, environmental compliance programs, and the popular Adopt-A-Street volunteer program.

Our team also collaborates with the library system on the Big Vehicles Event, attends community helpers’ day at area schools, and responds to disasters and other crises when the community needs assistance.

A summary of our work in a typical year embodies the theme of this year’s National Public Works Week: “People, Purpose, Presence.” Here’s what we accomplished in FY24:

• Managed over 103,000 assets with geographic information systems (GIS).
• Maintained more than 368 centerline miles of asphalt and concrete roadways.
• Maintained about 240 miles of sidewalks.
• Completed about 46 major and 473 minor street maintenance projects.
• Swept 9,072 linear miles of roadway.
• Maintained 255 miles of drainage ways, including 110 miles of storm sewer pipes, 1,897 junction boxes, and 6,837 storm inlets.
• Maintained 124 public landscape areas and more than 2,500 trees.
• Completed thousands of work orders to service over 800 city vehicles and equipment worth $56.5 million.
• Collected over 112,790 tons of municipal solid waste, servicing more than 42,000 accounts with 34 collection vehicles.
• Diverted 35,771 tons of materials for recycling, including 3,134 tons of brush for mulch.
• Managed 1,422 dumpsters, 979 automated containers, and 29,400 residential cans.
• Collected 5,290 lbs. of litter along 265 linear miles through the Adopt-A-Street program’s volunteer organizations.
• Completed 250 traffic project reviews.
• Maintained an exit flow of under 2½ hours from Kyle Field after Aggie football games.
• Maintained 96 traffic signals and 76 school zone flashers.
• Maintained over 16,000 roadway signs and more than 160 miles of traffic lines and pavement markings.

No wonder our Public Works Department has been nationally accredited since 2012 for adhering to the best practices and standards of the American Public Works Association and its 32,000 member agencies.

Our team works diligently every day to ensure our community is a better, safer, and more enjoyable place to call home. Happy 65th National Public Works Week!

About the Blogger

Solid Waste Division Manager Caroline Ask is in her eighth year with the city. She previously served as an engineering program specialist and environmental inspector and held environmental health positions at Texas A&M and Houston’s Texas Children’s Hospital. She earned a bachelor’s degree in bioenvironmental sciences from A&M in 2012.

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