Celina is gearing up for a busy construction year in 2026 after the City Council on Tuesday signed off on roughly $189 million in capital projects focused on water, sewer and streets. The spending package is the opening move in a five-year capital improvement program topping more than $800 million, a long-planned sprint to keep basic infrastructure in step with rapid growth. City officials are pitching it as essential work to protect water capacity, shore up drainage and give aging downtown streets a long-overdue rebuild.
Plan priorities and top projects
According to the City of Celina, the 2026 phase of the Five-Year Capital Improvement Program leans hardest on utilities and roadwork. The blueprint also carves out money for parks, public safety, facilities and information technology. City staff says those pieces are not extras but core investments needed to serve fast-growing neighborhoods and maintain service capacity as new development comes online.
What the 2026 package funds
The 2026 capital thread approved by council totals about $189 million and kicks off a five-year plan worth more than $853 million, according to Community Impact. That reporting notes the city intends to put nearly $87 million next year into pump stations, waterlines and sewer improvements, with another roughly $68 million slated for roadways. About $18 million of that road money is earmarked for downtown streets in 2026. Over the full five-year window, the plan also reserves about $86.6 million to convert downtown lanes and alleys to concrete as part of a 10 to 15-year strategy.
“It was before the ’60s that all these roads were redone,” Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Grumbles said, as quoted in Community Impact. City staff cautioned that tackling several downtown jobs at once will be disruptive and may require hiring outside engineering firms to keep schedules on track, a trade-off between speed and day-to-day convenience.
How the city will pay…