North Third Street could become Princeton's test strip for asphalt mixed with recycled plastic. City Council members will hear Tuesday from a University of Texas at Arlington researcher whose plastic-infused pavement is already in use on a Texas highway, and from Public Works staff who have drafted a five-year, roughly $20.2 million plan for the city's worst roads.
Both items are on the work session that opens the council's special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Princeton Municipal Center, 2000 E. Princeton Drive. They are presentations only; the agenda says no formal action will be taken during the work session.
The plastic road pitch
Public Works Director Rifat Alam's memo says staff have been looking for ways to meet the council's goal of sound roads while making Princeton a regional pioneer. The presenter is Sahadat Hossain, a civil engineering professor who directs UTA's Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability.
According to the memo, Hossain and the Texas Department of Transportation have been testing plastic waste in asphalt since 2019 and built the state's first "Plastic Road," a 3,500-foot stretch of SH 205 in Rockwall.
His slides show a 2-inch plastic-modified layer in a southbound lane there, with ride smoothness readings of 75 to 85 after 11 months, inside the "good" range, and a crack found in a conventional control section built at the same time. The presentation also points to plastic roads in Bangladesh and a UTA parking lot.
Which streets come first
The roads plan builds on a 2025 survey by Roadway Asset Services that rated 168 centerline miles of city-maintained pavement. The network scored 92 out of 100 overall, with about 83% of miles in good condition, but 10.74 miles rated poor or worse. Stretches of East and West College Avenue scored 8, the lowest in the city.
For fiscal 2027, staff list three full reconstructions:
- North Third Street from Dogwood Avenue toward East College Street, estimated at $750,000 to $1.1 million, named as the candidate for the UTA plastic road pilot if the council approves. The pilot would include six months of testing by UTA.
- Jefferson Avenue from Yorkshire Drive to Sixth Street, estimated at $465,000 to $750,000.
- Woody Drive from Third Street to Sixth Street, estimated at $435,000 to $700,000.
