The Greengate neighborhood in Allen is about to see the kind of repair work that residents have been asking about for years. At its April 14 regular meeting, Allen City Council unanimously approved a $2.15 million construction contract with Fort Worth-based Cole Construction to rebuild the sidewalk system, alley approaches, and curb ramps across a subdivision that was originally built in the 1980s.
Cole Construction submitted the lowest of the bids the city evaluated, coming in at $1.96 million before a 10% contingency was added. The contingency is standard practice for street and concrete work — when crews start removing old panels, they often find subgrade or drainage issues that require additional fixes. Building a buffer into the contract is how the city avoids coming back for change orders mid-project.
What the Project Includes
The scope of work covers three categories of concrete replacement within the Greengate neighborhood and a portion of Allen Heights Drive that ties into the subdivision.
Crews will replace 109 curb ramps, the corner pieces where sidewalks meet the street. Many of the existing ramps predate current Americans with Disabilities Act standards and have slopes, lips, or surface conditions that are out of compliance with federal accessibility requirements. When a sidewalk system is rebuilt at this scale, the ramps almost always come with it because the city has an obligation to bring the new work into ADA compliance.
Fifty alley approaches will also be replaced. These are the short concrete pads at the mouth of each alley where it meets the public street. They take a beating from garbage trucks, delivery vehicles, and the constant turning of resident traffic, and the older pads in Greengate have cracked, settled, or shifted enough to need full replacement.
Sidewalk panel replacement covers about 63% of the neighborhood’s existing sidewalk inventory. Not every panel will be removed — the project is selective, targeting the ones that have heaved, cracked, or settled enough to be a tripping hazard or an ADA violation. Panels in good condition will stay where they are.
Why Greengate Specifically
Greengate is one of Allen’s older neighborhoods, built during a period when the city was still establishing the residential character that would define its growth into the 2000s. Mature trees are part of what makes the subdivision attractive, but they are also the primary culprit behind sidewalk damage. Tree roots push panels up over time, and once a single panel is out of level the connecting panels eventually follow. A neighborhood at Greengate’s age is at the point in its life cycle when this kind of comprehensive replacement becomes the only practical option.
The city’s engineering staff use a condition-rating system to identify which neighborhoods are due for sidewalk work. Greengate scored high enough on the priority list to make the FY 2026 Capital Improvement Program, which is the document that programs city construction work across multiple years.
How Residents Will Be Affected
Concrete work is disruptive in predictable ways. When crews come in to replace a section of sidewalk or an alley approach, the immediate area becomes a construction zone for several days while the old concrete is removed, the subgrade is prepared, and new concrete is poured and cured. During that window, residents along the affected stretch lose street parking and may need to plan around blocked alley access.
The project manager has committed to communicating with residents ahead of the work in their immediate area. That typically means door hangers or mailers a few days before crews arrive on a given block, with information about parking restrictions and timeline. Residents who need to coordinate around medical appointments, deliveries, or moving schedules can usually work with the project team to adjust.
Construction is expected to begin later this year and proceed in phases across the neighborhood. The city has not published a block-by-block sequence yet, but Cole Construction will typically work through a project area in a logical pattern that minimizes back-and-forth and keeps the same crews productive.
What the Funding Covers and What It Does Not
The $2.15 million contract is for construction only. It does not include design work, which the city handled separately, or any of the project management and inspection costs that the city absorbs internally. It also does not extend the project beyond the defined Greengate scope. If a resident on a different block in a different neighborhood has a broken sidewalk panel, this project will not address it — they would need to submit a service request through the city’s normal channels.
Council members did not need to debate the contract at the April 14 meeting. The bid process was straightforward, Cole Construction’s price was the lowest qualifying bid, and the project had been programmed for this fiscal year. The unanimous vote reflected the routine nature of the approval rather than any underlying controversy.
For Greengate residents, the meaningful date is the construction start later this year. Until then, the visible signs of progress will be design markers, surveying activity, and eventually the staging of materials at intervals around the neighborhood.
