Assistant Town Manager Kent Collins then presented his report followed by presentations by engineers Brian Shamburger of Kimley-Horn & Assoc. and Dharmesh Shah from Lee Engineering. Following are the Transportation Commission Board Members names along with some of the questions they posed to the Assistant Town Manager for followup at the public hearing.
Board Members
Paul Stone – Chair/Place 1
Stephen Lyda – Vice Chair/Place 2
Ted Beaman– Place 3
Doug Rice – Place 4
David Henderson – Place 5
Jim Robertson – Place 6
Thomas Walker– Place 7
Q1. Ted Beaman: Is the 121Toll money all or nothing?
A1: Kent Collins: Contractually, the project must be COMPLETED in 10 years. Before answering, Mr Collins asked if Mr Beaman meant "scope change" (ie, don't widen all of Morriss) and Mr Beaman restated his question without including the question of "scope change".
Q2: Steve Lyda: What is the expected amount of developer fees?
A2: Kent Collins: Total roadway impact fees for the entire Riverwalk project are expected to be $5M. But the Town only receives that money as the permits are pulled (ie pay-as-you-go). Mr Collins stated that the exact number is unknown and could be considerably less if the development build out is reduced or delayed.
Q3: Paul Stone: Want to hear more about noise mitigation options.
Q4: Paul Stone: Want to hear about options for public input after the public hearing (ie in design phase). Perhaps staff-level meetings with HOA's.
Q5: Paul Stone: Want to hear more about "traffic calming" techniques that could be used.
Q6: David Henderson: Want to see comparison of air quality from flowing traffic vs gridlock traffic.
Q7: David Henderson: What happens when traffic reaches FM 407? Where does it go?
Q8: Thomas Walker: Want to see options to enhance safety on the roadsides, especially in the areas where there is very little offset or right-of-way.
Q9: Ted Beaman: Want to hear about landscaping options for the road sides (not the median).
Q10: Ted Beaman: What is feasable as far as phasing is concerned? The intersection of FM1171 and Morriss is a high priority and we would like to do it first along with the Gerault Road portion (flyover?). But if we don't do the whole roadway at once, how does the bottleneck effect play out?
Q11: Ted Beaman: Want to know the feasibility of reducing the speed limit from 40 to 35 in the center section of Morriss.
Q12: Steve Lyda: Want to see more detailed cross-section views that DO INCLUDE sidewalk configurations, especially between FM 1171 and FM 3040.
Q13: Steve Lyda: Want to see all of the trail access points and understand options for creating additional access points to get more children and pedestrians off the roadway and onto the trail system.
Q14: David Robertson: Can we address the condition of the existing roadway lanes in conjunction or coordination with this project?
A14: Kent Collins: There is a 1/4 cent sales tax funding mechanism for road maintenance. Morriss Road reconstruction is on the list of road reconstructions to be funded by this, but it is at the top of the second set of projects, about 4 years away.
Q15: Paul Stone: Can we do add/alternate options to improve the existing roadway lanes?
Q16: Jody Smith: Want to see previously presented data on the noise mitigation effects of greenery vs sound walls (that show greenery is more effective).
The official Town minutes from the meeting will be posted to the Town website, but that process sometimes takes up to 4 weeks (for various reasons). So while it is fresh on everyone's minds, we are posting some of the questions asked during the Transportation Commission's 4/21 Workshop. These questions have been paraphrased, so we apologize if we have mis-understood or mis-stated the questions. As is customary in the workshop format, many questions are asked of Town Staff and others with the expectation that they will do the necessary research to provide answers at the next hearing. Some questions are responded to immediately.
It seems we still haven't got the point out to them that no project is our preferred option. As we see from questions posed by the commission, they have heard part of our message and safety, aesthetics, and noise played a big part of these questions.
We still have a lot of work to do and this is far from a done deal.
The dates of the public hearings are yet to be announced, but we expect it to be in mid May. We will be prepared.
A1: Kent Collins: Contractually, the project must be COMPLETED in 10 years.
ReplyDeleteI do not like this. This implies that the town has already agreed to build this road regardless of any input from the citizens.
Has anyone talked to a lawyer to see what our legal options are? I suspect we could force this to a vote, but we'd have to collect signatures. Hopefully they're from voters in the last presidential election and not city election.
Good point, but the "contractual obligation" is a funding issue, not a go/no-go obligation.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, the people over at the 121 Toll don't want to hand out money for Flower Mound to sit on it. So the Town will sign some legal agreement with them that means we have to complete the project within 10 years or give that money ($10.77M) back. That's fair in my opinion, but I am interested to know the rest of the strings attached to the money.
And I agree, a lot of people in our Town government and on Town staff were really thinking this thing was a done-deal... until the citizens found out about it. Not that anyone was purposely trying to hide it, I think everyone had on their rose-colored Riverwalk glasses and did not make much effort to be inclusive the first go-around.
That's fine Scott, but to sign any agreement tied to a project means that at some level it was approved to go through. I've been around politics enough to know that nobody is going to let that money go away. Morriss will be an thorn in the side of impacted residents for a long time unless we convince the town to let it go now.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather see 10Million put to use fixing some of the streets around here. It's like a roller coaster on some roads.
I firmly believe that Flower Mound has a transparency issue. I would say 50% of residents have a home Internet connection and that's a high estimate. The other 50% gets no notices. Other places I have lived in Georiga, North and South Carolina, and Oklahoma the city utility bills are routinely used to announce items of interest to citizens. Unfortunately here that practice is not used other than things that make the city look good.
I also believe that the Riverwalk is a waste. We could instead develop Lakeside near the lake into a world class shopping and recreation area which already has great access roads that are underused yet we ignore it or belabor the poor developers until they give up.
The Riverwalk is in a flood plain. In other states that project would be banned over that fact. Hell even building a Hospital in that area should be illegal...
Corey: To stop this town council would have to overturn essentially an election since the money was approved by an at large vote; do you really think town council will do that? Let's be realistic here. The best that can be hoped for is design input and to have safety concerns heard, but Morriss is going to be expanded. Furthermore, neither Lakeside or the Riverwalk is being devoloped by the Town. It is up to the devoloper to set the schedule and proceed or not proceed. I'm all for fighting for a cause, but it is time to put realism into this scenerio.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is right in some respects, but not in giving up because it is an uphill battle.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Transportation Commission's meeting, I realized that our real fight should have been last year when Riverwalk was going through. That project (as beautiful as it looks in pen-and-ink sketches) is way too dense for our Town's infrastructure. Kent Collins even said it was exempted from SmartGrowth DING-DING-DING! Big RED FLAG. None of us realized the impact of that project; I thought it was just another nice little mixed-use center and the only cost was going to be some specimen trees. Boy was I wrong! We can't turn back time, but we can certainly get involved now to make the very best of what we've got.
I agree that the Riverwalk is a bad idea. The location is too cramped and I really feel bad for the neighborhood located on the corner of Long Prarie and College Parkway. A better location would be south Morriss near the lake. That way it is a shorter trip for people driving from other areas. The 3 story apartments is a bad idea also. We all know the real reason city officials want Morriss expanded is because they think massive amounts of people will be flocking to the Riverwalk from all over the metroplex. Think not.
ReplyDeleteDo the people of Flower Mound understand that the River Walk Project can hold Parker Square, The Shops at Highland Village and Southlake Town Center with room to spare & as Scott stated it has been exempted from the Smart Growth Plan - so City Hall is involved with this. Parker Square is a huge failure. Lakeside Development failed. So let's just keep on trying. So now we have a 158 acres of beautiful land that will be clear cut & turned into a concrete jungle. What is happening with our beautiful town? Are we not named, Tree City, USA? The question is what are we going to do to stop the madness and get our town back. Do we want speedways and more concrete or beautiful tree lined streets and green space? I choose trees and green space. What's your choice?
ReplyDeleteWe'll it's too late for a lot of those trees they're gone. Wish the would wipe out those Pines they ruined off Morris north of cross timbers. They look horrible.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Riverwalk was being talked about, did anyone ever mention Morriss being widened?
And by the way of saying people voted for it, bond elections are a sham. Less than 1% of the population ever voted for it. There should be laws mandating bond elections be approved by a better percentage. I voted NO on it because it did not define what it was for. General streets was all it said on the ballot. I did not know about the bond until I got to the booth.
Unfortunately Texas has some dumb election laws. Governors re-elected when more people voted for someone else than for the incumbent. How's that the will of the people?
Still like I said, Morriss can be stopped, people just have to demand it loud enough. Look at how Timer Warner backed down on that metered usage plan they wanted to push when everyone began complaining.
I sure hope we can stop it. When I first heard of the Riverwalk I thought it would be located on all the empty land on the corner of Gerault and Long Prarie. That would be the ideal positioning for a project of this nature. Instead they want to build it square in the middle of a residential area and expand all the roads that lead to and from it. And has anyone noticed on the Flower-Mound.com website on the master plan for the proposed area for the Riverwalk they have it marked out as residential? I thought they have had the master plan worked out for decades now? Something is not adding up.
ReplyDeleteRiverwalk is a bad idea. Lakeside was a good idea. But, Lakeside isn't owned by the town's "favorite developer". I agree with the other poster, Parker Square is a failure and River Walk will be too. Same developer! I heard River Walk received incentives too. Which you can be sure us taxpayers are going to be paying. We all know Morriss is being expanded because they want to get traffic flowing freely to River Walk. Yes they have been talking about expanding Morriss for awhile but River Walk has been talked about for some time too...behind close doors. Doesn't anyone think it is fishy that they denied the first developer a chance to do something on that land (Market Street) but then let Cole Mcdowell and Mr. Morris come in and do the same thing only on a larger scale? That is the problem with our Town Officials, they prefer to keep things secret and then accuse us of being asleep (Tasker). I do know this, anyone Tasker, the Mayor or the rest of the council is endorsing, I won't vote for. I like Lyda and Hayden because I think they really care about the town and the Smart Growth Plan. The verdict is out on Wallace. Morriss is such a beautiful street and it will be a shame if this happens. I don't want to see it look like 2499 or 1171!
ReplyDeleteIt's called amending the Master Plan to fit the needs of the developer. This area again has been exempted from the Smart Growth Plan. How outrageous is that! So what's the big draw to get people to the River Walk - there is none.
ReplyDeleteTo the last blogger - vote for Bob Butler - he is someone that will really try to do what is best for the Citizens of this town. Wallace, Cox & Dixon - they are who are current council wants in office to continue on with business as usual - no input from the citizens and lots more development.
Agreed with one the poster above.
ReplyDeleteIf they think we believe Morriss is being expanded to help ease traffic and accomodate future growth, then they think we are dumb as rocks.
That road already exists (2499) and it runs parallel with Morris and has a speed limit of 45-55 mph.
Why have another 3 lane "highway"? Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.... unless you're the developer of the Riverwalk.
I saw where someone called the StopMorriss6 crowd liberals. The reply was that they were mostly Repubicans. However, what I see is just life liberals.. Emotion overriding everything else. Feelings win regardless of facts. Therefore some bizzare remarks come out. Someone complains about people aleady cutting through their neighborhood. So more lanes would increase cutthroughs. NO. more traffic squeezing through 4 lanes create more more cutthroughs. Take a balloon and squeeze it.. See what happens.
ReplyDeleteI was the only Candidate that stood up last night at the Bridlewood Candidate Forum and said “ You want to know why they want to widen Morris Rd. and expand Windsor Rd.? Follow the money, it’s the River Walk!” And Mayor Smith and his Lordship Filadoro were both there to hear me. This current Council is a joke! To prove it is simple; look at the way they vote, there is very rarely if ever a dissenting vote. These guys go behind closed doors and get in lock step with what the P&Z or Transportation Commission or any other board recommends 99% of the time. Question: Who appoints these Board and Commission members? Oh yea, the Town (I say City, cause that’s what we’ve become) Council, that’s who.
ReplyDeleteI can’t wait to get elected so I can expose these people and tell the folks what’s really going on. I could be very wrong here, but from the looks of it, I’m thinking there’s something rotten in the petunias. I’m the furthest thing there is from a “Yes” man, it’s no wonder my signs are being taken from my supporter’s yards and my bumper sticker was ripped off of the back window of my own car. They don’t want me on the Council, which is why I want to be there more and more every day :)If you want the real truth about what is going on in this town then vote for me, I promise to give it to you!
I can’t wait for the retaliation I’m going to get for this post, but I’m ready. Bring It!
Sincerely,
Bob Butler
Candidate – Place 3
These were planned before the River Walk was ever dreamed of. If elected you will have to serve with 3 of the "jokes" But you are running against 2 candidates who are not on the Council..Did you forget? But you are the one issue candidate of the CITY of Flower Mound. I would say keep to the issues, but that is plural.
ReplyDeleteNo Bob I agree with you. Something stinks.
ReplyDeleteI like how the Mayor says it's been discussed, but never provides specifics and half the time those notes are not available.
That's worst argument you can possibly make; saying it was planned before the River Walk. It was planned 28 years ago, but we haven't widened it yet. Why not? Why didn't we do it five years ago? That argument doesn't work. The way they are trying to sell this to us is that the traffic will be bad in 2030. If you were at the Transportation meeting the other night you would have seen how desperate they are to make us think we need this done right now. They actually think we are stupid enough to believe that maybe there is a possibility that in twenty one years, the traffic on Morriss Rd. will be 40K - 50k cars a day. Ummm, sounds reasonable to me, let's ruin our neighborhood based on that solid scientific evidence. Give me a break!
ReplyDeleteI really don't see this as a liberal vs conservative issue, yes there is a lot of emmotion and that is because most people see through the hypocracy of our town leaders. This is more an issue of doing the right thing for whats right for its citizens.
ReplyDeleteOur town officials and their developer buddies like to label anyone who goes against thier projects (River Walk, Gas Drilling in our neighborhoods, and amending the Smart Growth Master Plan to fit their needs)as liberals. They are self centered, self absorbed and have their own agenda. Harsh, I know. But I, like many are just sick of their secrecy and apparent back room deals. I can't wait till Jody Smith and Jean Levenick terms are up. Tasker not running was the best news I had heard in a long time. Good riddens to them all. We elected them and now we have a chance to fill 3 of the open seats with those who will have our best interest at heart. Who came to Flower Mound for the many reasons we all did. The great mix of country and development. All I see now is development, and the mutilation of beautiful open space. I know Morriss is just a road but it is a nice drive, right through neighborhoods. Not like 1171 and 2499 that are mostly business. We need to preserve something in this town. Many of us are Republicans. Which doesn't mean we should shut up and take it in the "you know what". I always thought being a Republican meant I don't always have to agree on all the issues and can stand up for those I do believe in.
ReplyDeleteBut the candidate is surely using librel tatics.. campaign against those not running.. instead of offering ideas, call names, And he does throw a lot of Joe McCarthy into the mix - He is now making unfounded accusations of law breaking. Do we want a this guy on Council?
ReplyDeleteAnd this candidate wants to"slow down the growth in Flower Mound." Take a look around, how much slower can it be? We are in a recession folks and this guy wants to slow down growth! Look, he's feeding on your fears on this Morriss Road issue. You have to take a look and realize that there are better candidates out there.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster above. We currently do not need anymore "Parker Squares" in the middle of this town. We have businesses not making it as it is. Look around and see the many empty spaces in our strip malls. We do need to slow things down and support the business that is existing here in town.
ReplyDeleteActually, considering two closed Albertsons (nothing to do with Flower Mound) our occupancy rate is pretty good. Everybody bad mouths Parker Square, but something must be going right as they kept building new buildings. Nothing wrong with that. With more vacancies, the lower the rent. and more businesses can come in. The point is-- the comment to slow growth is among the most asinine statement I have ever heard a politician make. We are approaching a time that we will need to encourage growth. We had a period already with the stop growth crowd. We lost a lot of potential business in this town.
ReplyDeleteShow me where growth is runnng rampant in town. It is just not happening.
One of the Albertson's is being renovated to becaome the Village Church.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster at 2:17 PM, look at Parker Square - they have a brand new building sitting empty - not what the owner wants. For everyday a unit sits vacant they lose money. Parker Square also has very high turnover rate, not because of low rent either but because rents are way too high and for a small mom and pop shop that doesn't help them with their bottom line. As someone in the commericial leasing field, a lease sign is not something we like to put out because we don't know how long it will sit not making money. The industrial park has many vacant brand new buildings sitting empty because the demand for that type of space has dropped. Just go across the road into Coppell's industial park - lots of for lease signs and some have been there for years. Parker Square has failed and do you want 158 acre development with for lease signs all up and down 2499 or Morriss Road. It doesn't look good at all. Truly, how any more national retail anchor stores or restaurants do we need in Flower Mound? Come on, we moved here for the country rural feel, not the Southlakes or Frisco's. We need balance and Mr. Butler will bring balance to the town.
ReplyDeleteI think Steve Lyda and Tom Hayden want to bring balance as well. Keep in mind that Mayor Smith and her developer pals are promoting Angie Cox and Steve Dixon. Although Dixon is a really nice guy, he will be too much of a pushover and tied too closely to our current council.
ReplyDeleteI am a resident of Baker's Branch. In fact, my home is right next to the new Rec Center that is enjoyed by many town residents. Soon, a new park will at the same location. I supported both efforts and am happy many other town residents have benefited from the additional concrete.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know where to go to get the facts about the Morris project. Unbiased and reserved informational responses and sources are appreciated.
Thank you.
Tom, we have passed lots of data on to your HOA person at Bakers Branch and have passed out flyers advertiseing our events in your neighborhood and have appealed to all communities along Morriss/Gerault to join in our core group. There was NO information regarding the project provided by the town prior to our invovlement in February, since they have published an information sheet with FAQs. But it all boils down to 3 points by the town.
ReplyDelete1. Its been on the master plan since 1981.
2. They got free money.
3. The Riverwalk (Manhattan on the Mound) warrants the expansion because they hope that if they built it "they" will come.
Not that close to a 5th of the towns population lives within a quarter mile of the road. That it will change the entire community feel of the road and that they have no idea whether it will be needed or not. Did I mention free money?
I love the fact that the CAC was built and the increased amount of park areas available in the town now. But you would know better than most of us. Do you notice a huge increase of traffic because of the CAC complex? Please come to the meet the candidates and march on morriss and hear what they have to say. And again we welcome involvement from your neighborhood.
How about the "feel" of more traffic going through your neighorhoods, because too much traffic is trying to squeeze onto 4 lanes instead of 6?
ReplyDeleteAll the River Walk bashing. Are you also saying the you did not know of all those many meetings?
ReplyDeleteI am hoping the Riverwalk is a huge success, but there has to be a certain amount of skepticalism after the non successes with Parker Square and Lakeside. If you build it, they will come worked great for Kevin Costner in "Field of Dreams", but lets get the other major road projects finished that are underway and perform real time studies at that time. As far as too much traffic, The difference between a level C road and Level D road is only a matter of less that a minutes difference in traffic flow. as I said in my speech at the town council meeting, If you build apartments and townhomes in the Riverwalk area, Common sense tells me the majority of those residents will be working at the hospital, business offices, retail and dining facilities in Riverwalk. I honestly don't think some one that works in the Mid Cities, airport, Grapevine etc are going to move to north Flower Mound because there is a 6 lane road.
ReplyDeleteYou have to love the thinking of the Mayor and this Town Council. It seems because something is in the Master Plan, that we have to build it. Aren't plans supposed to be a guide and can be changed or revised if warranted? I think the hospital is a great idea and something that is needed, but is there really a need for the River Walk and it's 620,000 SF of retail space and another 857,0000 SF of office space? What businesses do they think they will get to fill that space? J.C.Penney? Already in Highland Village. Old Navy? See J.C. Penney. Most retail outlets are closing stores, not opening new ones in this economy. Why not scale back the River Walk project? I don't think we need to expand Morris based on the assumptions that this will increase traffic. My house backs to Morris and I drive this road daily and have never encountered a traffic jam. I encounter more traffic going down 3040 towards Old Settlers than I do down Morris? I guess next time I move, I'll investigate the towns Master Plan instead of the schools to determine if I want to move there or not.
ReplyDeleteDo you realize that without the change to the Master Plan we could have many more apartments in the River Walk area, with nothing to stop it? The River Walk will bring fewer apartments, more high end stores and the medical facilities.
ReplyDeleteThe term rural atmosphere is being used again. I do agree that we must strive to be more rural. Start by tearing down all those brick walls that separate people. Rural residents are more friendly that that. Of course do away with zoning. If someone wants to put in a double wide next to your $500,000 home, that okay, it’s rural. And Morriss and Gerault, it’s a shame that we paved these roads. They used to be rural. We have 63,000 people, most of which have never lived in the country.
ReplyDeleteOn one of these threads someone made the comment about being against growth just for the sake of growth. How about growth to increase the tax base. Retail and office brings in property tax (retail also brings in sales tax). And costs are much lower than additional residential. Yes. Grow.. Grow.. Grow.. and businesses. We need them
ReplyDeleteTom asked where he could get “facts about the Morris project” and indicated that “unbiased and reserved informational responses and sources are appreciated.”
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to post links to the town’s fact sheet, frequently asked questions and transportation commission video to the front page of this blog? The documents and video contain alot of factual information that will answer a lot of the questions that are being asked and will clear up some of the misinformation about Morris road.
If the creators of this blog really are interested in presenting both sides, there should be no problem in providing their visitors and readers with access to this information. All of this information is available at http://www.flower-mound.com/morriss, but me posting it here, buried deep into the blog, does nobody any good. We would all be more informed if it were on the front page.