Dateline: Colleyville - October 4, 2001 9:51 AM

"Big Bird" has become the Median Monster - and the median monster is restricting customer access to a number of existing businesses along Colleyville Boulevard.  When access is restricted, sales decline.  According to several of the Colleyville Boulevard business owners with whom I have met, sales are indeed down dramatically (anywhere from 15% to 50%) since the installation of the medians.  As a recent newspaper article stated, the median is "a huge obstacle for Colleyville." Finger pointing and hand wringing is not going to help our Colleyville business owners and their customers.  The fact of

the matter is that there is an obstacle and we need a solution.  It’s that simple.  If I have learned anything from seventeen years of owning a small business, it is this - if your customers and clients are given a reason to shop or conduct business elsewhere, find a solution and find it fast. Upon receiving inquiries and statements of concern from my constituents in Colleyville about this problem on a state highway, I requested a thorough analysis of the Colleyville Boulevard median project, from initial planning through its construction.  My constituents expressed their concern directly to me, and I met with the affected business owners and listened to their concerns. Loaded with this information and a request for assistance from City of Colleyville officials, I initiated a series of conversations with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).  The Department’s chief engineer for the median project and I have discussed the issue at length.  I met him and the TxDOT Fort Worth Regional Director at the location of the medians to see firsthand how traffic flows and businesses are accessed.  I am advised that TxDOT did not deviate from their standard policy of working with cities.  TxDOT did not design or construct the medians.  They merely approved the plans submitted and recommended by city consultants.  I have communicated the sense of urgency to TxDOT, and I requested their help in resolving this matter with the city for the benefit of all concerned.  And, although the action steps required to correct the problem must correspond appropriately with the actions that created it, I expect a solution to be offered and implemented as soon as possible. Quickly, we shall overcome this obstacle and put our businesses on the road to recovery.  Once we have succeeded, then we may address what caused the obstacle in the first place, and take steps to ensure that a mistake like this is not repeated. In the mean time, I have confidence in the Texas Department of Transportation.  They continue to be very responsive to Northeast Tarrant County transportation needs.  During the last three years they have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation improvements into our communities.  If the past is an indication of the future, they will act on my request for a fast and responsible solution.  State Representative Vicki Truitt (R-Grapevine) represents Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Keller, Westlake, Haslet, Haltom City, and parts of Fort Worth, Hurst, Euless and Bedford in the Texas House of Representatives.  She may be reached at (817) 488~4098 or vicki.truitt@house.state.tx.us.

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