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SOLUTION TO MEDIAN CONTROVERSY TO BE IMPLEMENTED NEXT WEEK
by Linda Newton

 

Dateline: Colleyville - October 24, 2001 12:48 PM

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Approximately 30 people attended a meeting at the Colleyville Community Center Tuesday night, October 23, to hear a proposed solution to the median controversy.  Representatives from the City of Colleyville, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Teague Nall and Perkins, Inc. (TNP) made presentations to the group outlining the proposed modifications to the medians on State Highway 26.   


State Rep Vickie Truitt

 Among the attendees at Tuesday’s meeting were State Representative Vickie Truitt and former Colleyville Mayor Ed Baker, chair of Truitt’s policy committee.  Truitt intervened with TxDOT on behalf of the Colleyville business owners who were negatively impacted by the installation of the medians in late summer, which led to the consideration of modifications to the medians.  Mark Schluter of TxDOT stated at the meeting that Truitt “really lit a fire under us”.

A portion of the medians has already been removed, and Gary Teague of TNP told the business owners that they were recommending removal of the rest of the medians with the exception of the section south of Village Lane.  TNP and Parsons Transportation Group (PTG) were previously retained by TxDOT to prepare the design plans for the widening of State Highway 26.  Because of the problems with the temporary medians, TNP was asked to jump ahead in the process and address the immediate need.  TxDOT will fund the bulk of the cost associated with the new study and redesign of the temporary medians from the funds allocated for the State Highway 26 widening, and the City of Colleyville will only be required to pay $5,000 for the second traffic study.

 During his comments, Schluter explained the process that TxDOT uses when assessing the need for changes to a state highway.  He said in a development like the Village, TxDOT looks at a traffic study. In this case, Realty Capital contracted with Parsons (PTG) to do the study, and then the developer and the city worked on a plan.  According to Schluter, TxDOT told the developer to develop a plan and “they came back with what you see constructed out there now”.  He then recapped the sequence of events following the installation, including the repainting and removal of the U-turn signs.  Then, he said, “Vickie Truitt called us”.  No representatives from Parsons or Realty Capital attended the meeting.

 Gary Teague of TNP then outlined the purpose of the medians and how they determine where to place cuts and turn lanes.  He stated that 28,000 vehicles per day travel on State Highway 26 and gave accident statistics.  He then moved on to what everyone was there to hear – what they were recommending be done with the medians.  Those recommendations included removal of the medians north of Village Lane, replacing it with a continuous left turn lane.  The median section between the Glade/Village Park/Highway 26 intersection and Village Lane (south of Chase Bank) will remain.  Left turns onto Highway 26 from Pleasant Run Road and Village Lane will be prohibited.

Recommendations for Median Resolution

1. The existing median south of Village Lane should remain in its entirety.  
2. The interim medians north of Village Lane could be removed, but only if left-turning traffic from the new development roadways (Village Lane and Pleasant Run) on the west side are restricted with channelizing right-turn-only islands. If the median is removed, a two-way-left-turn lane should be incorporated with new signs, pavement markings and buttons per TxDOT standards.
3. Ultimately the driveway for the Colleyville Plaza on the east side of SH26 should line up with Village Lane on the west side of SH26 to eliminate left-turning path conflicts.
4. Shared property access and circulation should be explored along both sides of SH26 so that businesses will have access to common driveways at the future median openings in the ultimate SH 26 configuration.
5. A public awareness and information program should be implemented to inform the public of the ultimate configuration of medians for the SH 26 project.

City Manager Bill Lindley then opened the meeting for questions.  Richard Newton commented that the new design looked more effective than the one currently installed, asked who assessed the effectiveness of the current one, and again questioned the timing of the installation.  The response to the first questions was a familiar “I don’t know” and the second one was that things got out of synch, but that the other streets are now open.  Mark Schluter of TxDOT responded by referring to the permit process, saying that they usually get done when the developer puts in the other streets.

Norman Gibson questioned the accuracy of the traffic accident statistics and again asked why the requirement that all business owners sign off on the design was ignored by the city.  His recommendation for the median solution was to scrape them off and put in turn lanes. 

When asked about the timing of the removal of the median, the city staff stated that they hope to begin the work next week.  The striping has to be removed first and then the asphalt medians. 

Two residents present, Nelson Thibodeaux and Rob Timmons, asked why the median installation took priority over getting a turn lane all the way down Highway 26.  Portions of the highway in Colleyville have no turn lane and Timmons commented that he was late to the meeting due to a bad accident at one of these sections. 

 By this point in the meeting Mayor Donna Arp, the only Colleyville elected official present at the meeting began fielding questions.  Former city council member Susie Grundy questioned Arp about Myers (Realty Capital) paying for the median installation.  When told that the city could not answer why that happened, Grundy said “so we’ve been doing business underground and nobody knows anything?  Seems to me rather strange what is going on”.  When Grundy continued to question the mayor about the median, Arp responded “I’m sure it’s part of the developer’s agreement”.  Still not satisfied with the answers, Grundy continued “I want to know what’s going on.  I talk to you on the phone and you say you don’t know anything about it”.  At this the mayor said there had been many, many mistakes made for many, many years. 

Responding to a question by Ms. Grundy, Mayor Arp said that not one single thing was being served by "finger pointing"         Click to Hear Ms. Grundy response to Mayor
Mayor Arp responds that all records that "exist" are available and Ms. Grundy is welcomed to see the records. Click to Hear Ms. Grundy comments about telephone conversation with Mayor Arp.

Cecil Williams, owner of the Red Barn Saddle Shop, also questioned the accident statistics presented by TNP.  He commented “seems like there have been more accidents since the medians went in”.  Keith Fisher, city engineer, offered that there have been a number of accidents from cars hitting the medians.

 Dr. Rich Driscoll of Total Eye Care, one of the businesses impacted by the medians, asked how notification of future meetings would be made.  Bill Lindley responded that notices would be posted on the city’s web page, in newspapers, in the Communicator and perhaps by mailings.  Ret Stansberger offered to publish notices in the Chamber of Commerce newsletter, as well as send faxes to the affected businesses.  When asked when the next Highway 26 Corridor Committee meeting would be, Mayor Arp responded that it had been held last week.  Lindley added that there would be at least one more public meeting before the committee’s recommendations go to council for action.   


City Mgr. Bill Lindley, Mayor Arp


Former Mayor Ed Baker

Although most businesses will be aided by the partial removal of the median, at least two are no better off than before.  Cecil Williams of the Red Barn Saddle Shop said “it didn’t do us any good to come to the meetings.  You all have us completely blocked off”.  The Red Barn and the Sonic Drive-In will still be impacted by the remaining medians.  Williams told the city “you talk about spending money in Colleyville, but I don’t see any of you in the Red Barn getting your shoes shined”.  He then went on to state that earlier in the thirty year history of their business Colleyville had been a “horse” town and mayors and council members used to gather at his place.  He concluded by saying, “we had a little clout then”.

Seven former elected officials who served over the last two decades attended the meeting – Smokey Vanover, Susie Grundy, Linda Newton, Richard Newton, Ed Baker, Nelson Thibodeaux and Mike Taylor.   As they were leaving one of those was asked why he was there and he responded “to make sure I didn’t get blamed for anything”.  The city stated that there should be no need for any further meetings, as the work should be commenced within the next week.

 

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