The Collin County Observer

News, Analysis & Opinion for Collin County

Anti bridge protesters crowd bridge hearing

10/08/09

05:54:54 am, by bill

, 336 words,

Categories: Observer Opinions, Open Government, Mobility

Anti bridge protesters crowd bridge hearing

Collin County wants to build a bridge across Lake Lavon.

And that's steamed up a lot of residents. Yesterday over 300 local citizens overflowed the Wylie City Council chambers to let officials know they wanted nothing to do with a toll bridge and 6 lane road that is planned to connect Parker Rd in Lucas with SH 78 north of the City of Lavon.

HNTB, a large engineering firm, was selected by the commissioners court to do a study to determine the 'preferred right of way' for the bridge project. As part of that study, HNTB held a public hearing to get citizen input on the proposed bridge routes. Instead, they got a blast from property owners who wanted no bridge, and especially, no toll bridge.

County officials were quick to point out that any plans to build the bridge were decades away, and commissioner Joe Jaynes told the crowd that since there was no money budgeted for a bridge, it was a near certainty that it would have to be built as a toll road. Jaynes and Commissioner Jerry Hoagland told the crowd that the county had to plan for future growth. County Judge Keith Self, who moderated the meeting told the crowd that he was opposed to the bridge because he didn't think it would generate enough toll revenue to pay for itself.

Most of those who spoke expressed a desire to maintain a rural way of life on the Branch Peninsula and eastern shores of Lavon. They asked that the county improve existing roads, such as highway 78 and US 380 to handle the expected increased traffic rather than build a bridge.

Several citizens criticized the county for spending over $374,000 for a right of way study designed to plan a route for the new road and bridge that might never be built. One speaker asked that the commissioners quit spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to "draw colored lines on a map". In 2007, citizens approved transportation bonds that included the money to fund the bridge ROW study.

Bill

Permalink 8 comments

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: Chuck Bloom [Visitor]

Bill,
Some genius, or journalist, or someone, needs to study the bridge over Mountain Creek Lake in south Dallas County, that connects Hwy. 180 to Grand Prairie. It's a toll bridge but I doubt the volume of traffic on it justifies the construction (years ago) or pays the freight.
When people support or disapprove of projects, they need to come at the issue with more than emotions or "maintaining" certain levels of life. "Feelings" was a lousy song and a lousy way to conduct public policy.

Permalink 10/08/09 @ 12:26

Comment from: Harrison [Visitor]

Did you attend the meeting Mr. Bloom?

I agree that emotion alone can't stop policy, but I felt the meeting certainly had FAR more than only "feelings" as you say.

There were many logical absurdities with the study routes, and the entire plan in general. The citizens called them out on this and engineering had no answers.

At times, they appeared utterly surprised citizens were even asking them these types of questions...

Permalink 10/08/09 @ 16:06

Comment from: Chuck Bloom [Visitor]

While I didn't have to attend the meeting (I have no dog in that fight), I am surprised no one put forth the toll bridge in south Dallas and its impact and cost-effectiveness.
And "Feelings" is STILL one of the sappiest ballads ever sung.

Permalink 10/08/09 @ 17:28

Comment from: Mrs. Trish Donaghey [Visitor] · http://Internet America Wireless

Dear Bill, THANK YOU SO MUCH for keeping us informed about what is happening in Collin County and letting us know about the meetings that affect us! Great reporting, Trish

Permalink 10/09/09 @ 15:23

Comment from: bill [Member]

Mrs. Donaghey,

You're welcome. Thank you for reading the Observer.

Bill

Permalink 10/09/09 @ 18:23

Comment from: Michael Biggs [Visitor]

It was good to see you at the meeting. Thanks for covering the real issues in Collin County.

You are certainly correct. It was a full house and most people there were against any bridge.

After the meeting I looked at the map online.

If I had to guess at this point. The bridge is a certainty. As soon as the route is made official the large owners will probably immediately start donating the land. I will be shocked if this is more than 10 years out.

I do not think the 300 residents will have a chance against the county, the large land owners. They will certainly not have any chance against the 200,000 people the county believes who will live on the East side of the lake.

If people want to stop the bridges, here is what I suggest.

Try to get the development that will occur on the East side of the lake to be balanced between homes and jobs.

That is the one thing that would reduce the need of the bridges.

It should also be remembered that every additional mile and every additional turn you make people drive the more of them that will be killed. It is also usually worse for the environment.

Permalink 10/10/09 @ 23:04

Comment from: Jan McGill [Visitor]

We may not be the large land owners but we do own 75 acres that the green or blue line would cut our farming land in half. And I can guarantee you we will not be donating any of it! It was so wonderful to hear that people still care about keeping their homes private and pristine. Lake Lavon is a wonderful natural resource to so many wildlife. Not to mention the families that use it daily, weekly or whenever to take their loved ones out and spend relaxing quality time together. Thank you for update on the happenings of Collin County we truly appreciate it. Jan

Permalink 10/11/09 @ 19:27

Comment from: SaveLakeLavon [Visitor]

· http://www.savelakelavon.com

The October 7th public meeting was far more than ‘feelings”. There are MAJOR questions that Collin County Engineering did not answer. WHY did they choose that particular bridge study area location in the first place? WHAT was their motivation for drawing a line across some of the deepest and widest parts of the lake? At the November 1, 2005 outer loop public meeting Collin County (or HNTB) stated that if a bridge were “placed down the center of Lake Lavon, there would be an increased amount of bridge structure which would increase the cost of the project substantially. In addition, there would be environmental impacts.” Collin County says the Outer Loop would not make sense to cross Lavon Lake, so why have they changed their tune for this new bridge study? We have asked questions to try and understand their motivation but so far Collin County Engineering has been mute.

Why were the five proposed bridge routes, that had been on Collin County mobility maps from 2002 to 2006, dismissed? Those routes were part of a map made by Carter Burges, and I am sure, paid for with tax payer money. Where is the record of public meetings, and public input, that gave Collin County its reasoning to dismiss those proposed routes and replace them with the new single blue line? The single blue line became the core of the HNTB study area, yet Mr. Delgado stated that this single blue line “was drawn without the benefit of engineering.” Why would a line “drawn without the benefit of engineering become ground zero for ALL the potential routes? Why did that single blue line plow through homes and spare the Hunt (HHEC) property? How many and which developers were involved in the decision to place that original blue line that drove the study area location?

These are only a few of the questions we have about this bridge study location and Collin County Engineering's motivation. We have many more. You can view a complete list at www.savelakelavon.com

Permalink 10/19/09 @ 11:46

The Collin County Observer

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The Collin County Observer

Anti bridge protesters crowd bridge hearing

10/08/09

Anti bridge protesters crowd bridge hearing

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