Morriss Road Danger

As Scott mentioned in the previous post, the Super Bowl evening incident struck very close to home. Sunday evening as the game was winding down, my wife Holly too our dog Pepper out for a quick walk around the neighborhood. Her last leg of the walk was up Morriss from the cul de sac to around the corner to our house, one house from Morriss. After she rounded the corner and was walking up our drive way she heard the crash. A mere minute earlier and she could have been involved in a horrific tragedy.

Even though the town has spent the money for the planning, its not over by a long shot. We are a few months away from an election that will change the face of our town. Saner minds that are eager to listen to reality will be running our town. There are alternatives that have not been explored and will be. Keep the faith and we will defeat this horrible plan before any family has to endure a catasrophic tragedy.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors; Broken Fences Make..

I don't know if anyone is really following this site much anymore since the Morriss expansion project has been in the design phase. So if you are still a follower, feel free to reply and let us know you are alive!

It happened again last Sunday; right after the Super Bowl. Another vehicle ran off Morriss Rd. This seems to happen about once every quarter or few months. (If anyone has the time to look up the police records, it would be interesting to see an actual tally.) This time the vehicle struck close to me; about a block north of Forestwood Middle School. It got my neighbor's fence and only slightly damaged one corner of my fence about 10ft from my kids' swing set and sandbox (just next to that dividing fence in the photo below). We are waiting on the police report.

My 7-year old was fascinated by the damage. In true 7-year old fancy, she imagined herself on her swing and watching a spectacular collision and catastrophe. I tried to explain to her the concept of low-risk probabilities and that her swingset is perfectly safe. But her eyes glassed over and her interests diverted to other subjects, thankfully!

I know this sort of thing can and does happen on roads all over town. However, it would be foolish to think that an expanded Morriss Rd with higher vehicle counts and higher speeds won't see an increase in this risk. It is just another reason why we [Morriss Rd residents] should have been involved before the Town submitted for funding this project. This section of Morriss Rd has no business being a 6 lane artery. But entering the debate after funding was approved proved to be too late to affect significant change.

Keller Residents for 4

I encourage you all to read this article in the Star-Telegram on a proposed 6-lane expansion for North Tarrant Parkway.

Sound familiar? Turn Morriss/Gerault on its side and you have a nearly identical situation on a smaller scale. It is almost surreal to witness this from a 3rd party standpoint. I think the Morriss Rd case against a 6-lane facility is much, much more compelling. There are no schools directly on N Tarrant Pkwy (looks like a Middle school backs up to it); nonetheless, it is similar in many ways:
- 3 primary road sections; central section is the tightest
  - years of development inconsistent with a 6-lane road
  - narrow pathways on sides
  - homes really close to the road
  - neighborhood ingress/egress problems
- west section (compare to Gerault) is newer with ample neighborhood setback
- funding already in place (from Tarrant County)
- Kimley-Horn study says demand for 6-lanes coming in 10 to 20 years
- Construction to be completed in 18 months and pushing forward fast
- Keller Council will be scheduling a public hearing

I cannot blame the early leadership in the DFW area suburbs too much; it was a huge transformation in less than 20 years from rural agriculture to a new suburban model. And even today, we are still trying to figure it out. I understand there were lots of incentives to build a certain way, and we are all complicit to a certain extent. But our suburban model is choking us with traffic and the proper framework to cope with that traffic was not laid when our communities were planned.

The Messenger

I'm glad to see some things do not change in this town. When I ready yesterday edition of the Flower Mound Messenger, I began to wonder if they attended the same Town Council Meeting. I also just recieved a phone call from Lindsey Bever of Neighbors Go supplement of the Dallas Morning News. She wanted to know our reaction to the road expansion plans, like we were in mourning for our loss. I had to laugh.

Not that I am telling them how to write their papers, but the headline should have read; Stop Morriss 6 Group gains huge victory.

How could anything else be the story. Other than the disruptive behavior of a certain group of you adults in attendance. We won, pure and simple. Granted we were not able to STOP the project, but on the other foot, the town wasn't able to ramrod the project through in the next 2 years as the Transportation Commission recommended.
We won. Admit it, write about it, talk about it. The horror of a six lane monstrosity will not exist in this town by the end of 2010. Yes, it might cost between a half million to one and a half million more by doing it in phases, but what does that matter. In the towns own words, Its not our money we are working with.

The actual headline should have read, The residents of Flower Mound win, big money developers with oil and gas interests lose.

And the hopes of this group disappearing? Very slim. Next years election? Watch out, we just got a taste of what hard work and the need to do the right thing can do to make a difference in this town.

I encourage all of you to write letters to the editors of these publications, just as I plan to do to set them straight.

The Name

Some may ask, what will become of the Stop Morriss Six group and movement now that it seems that the road will be planned for 6 lanes of construction.

To answer that question, our name and our group of residents along the Morriss corridor are not going anywhere. We will still remain Stop Morriss Six. We have succeeded on many levels.

We STOPPED the madness of a six lane locomotive that our friends on the Transportation Commission were trying to expedite to completion in 18 months.

We STOPPED the Towns elected officials from discounting our concerns and made them listen and actually come out and walk along Morriss during the busiest part of the day and got them to come and look at the "tunnel" just north of Forestwood Middle School to see actually how disgusting and not a viable alternative to safety.

We STOPPED the Towns staff from continuing to feed us misinformation and flawed data to make their case.

We STOPPED the town from paying more attention to developers than to our residents.

We STOPPED the town from talking down to us and scolding us for not being involved.

We will continue to STOP candidates from running for office unless they truly have the best interests of the residents and not developers.

We will continue to STOP any opaque agendas.

We will never STOP pressing for the best safety and health issues that environmentally friendly to all.

We will never STOP communicating to those that want to listen.

Nothing will STOP us from regaining a strong voice for the people of Flower Mound.

Congratulations

Thank you to everyone who was at last night's Council meeting (and to those who wanted to be there but schedules did not allow attendance). And thank you to our Town Council and the Town's staff. The StopMorriss6 group may put out a more official statement later, but I wanted to put something up here as soon as possible.

What we witnessed last night was a compromise. Many will be disappointed it was not a stronger compromise or a complete "no" vote; others will feel just the opposite. That is the nature of a compromise.

Despite the name, StopMorriss6 originally was about making this project known to as many people as possible and enabling citizens to be heard collectively. Thanks to everyone's efforts I think we can feel proud that we accomplished this goal.

For those who have not heard, here is what changed last night:

1. The project has been split into 2 phases:
2. Phase 1 includes the entire Gerault Rd portion (including the 2499 flyover)
3. Phase 1 includes elements for the entire length of Morriss/Gerault: intersection improvements, safety elements, fencing, and landscaping
4. Phase 2 includes all that remains, largely just 6 lanes of Morriss Rd.
5. Language was added to include emphasis on 8' fencing options where possible and living sound walls.
6. Phase 2 will not begin until the earlier of 2014/2015 FY or the completion of the Riverwalk Amenity (which is the $6M? main water feature of that project).

The biggest win for the residents of Morriss Rd is that this compromise allows us time to see if we think we can live with this road. If after the design process and the beginning of construction you feel like the road will impact your quality of life too much, then you will have the time to make an orderly and well-timed relocation. It is sad that some may have to consider this, but at least you have the option now.

The other key element here is that the "Riverwalk Amenity" is a good compromise trigger. If completed, this phase of the Riverwalk will prove to everyone that the Riverwalk is a viable project that is on its way to completion. Also, the "Riverwalk Amenity" is required before the developer can begin construction on the last 600(?) residential units.

For the record, the Council voted:
Al Filidoro - In Favor
Steve Dixon - In Favor
Jean Levenick - In Favor
Mike Wallace - Opposed
Tom Hayden - Abstained

• Mr Wallace supported the project, but opposed the time gap before phase 2 would increase costs slightly (by our estimates, between $0.5M and $1.5M - a hard number to pin down right now). He stated that 1 phase of construction was his preference.
• Mr Hayden abstained (which is essentially interpreted as a "no" vote on the record) because [as he stated] he made very strong campaign promises to not support this road project. My own interpretation is that he abstained rather than voted "no" because he felt Mr Filidoro's amendment was a move in the right direction. But that is only my interpretation.

Again, thank you to all.

*****Correction/Clarification*****
There was some procedural confusion after the vote. Some persons thought the vote was just on the amendment proposed by Mr Filidoro, others thought the vote was for the entire motion including the amendment. After the recess, a new vote was taken with the scope of the entire motion in its final form which included the proposed amendments (described in the original post). This last vote passed 3-2 in favor of the motion with Mr Wallace and Mr Hayden in opposition.

Agenda Item #9: The Council approved the CIP budget amendments to reflect changes to Morriss/Gerault, West Windsor connection, and the new firestation. Mr Hayden noted that the practice of combining disparate items is sometime not ideal. The item passed 4-1 with Mr Hayden in opposition.

Agenda Item #10: The Council approved funds for Halff & Associates to begin Morriss/Gerault project design. The item passed 4-1 with Mr Hayden in opposition.

Our Position, Your Chance

Wow, it has been a weekend of a lot of activity. Many of us have been talking back and forth about how to effect change. I've seen Tom Hayden going up and down Morriss Rd talking to citizens like he is back on the campaign trail. As you know, of the 3 council members elected in May, Tom had the strongest statements against the Morriss Road project. He campaigned with a slogan of "Citizens First" and I think he is living up to that.

+ Tom Hayden said he supports the citizens and the citizens don't support this road project at this time.
+ Mike Wallace said he thinks the road project is needed, but that he wouldn't support turning dirt until 2011.
+ Steve Dixon said he thinks Morriss should be widened some time before it is needed ([Steve's] example: if the road is needed in 7 years, then we should build it in 5 or 6 years.
+ Al Filidoro and Jean Levenick have no [meaningful] public statements on the record.

We as StopMorriss6, we as Morriss/Gerault residents, we as citizens who care about our Town and our quality of life, we have made a difference. It feels to us like we have been speaking, but not heard; that we have serious concerns that are being dismissed. That is not true. Our message is being heard. We forced them to double their efforts to spoon us the same tired spiel about why their first plan was such a good one. And yes, the Transportation Commission rebuffed all of our attempts to have them reconsider decisions made during the 2009 Master Thoroughfare Planning process (where Morriss Rd was not represented). But there is a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes on account of us speaking up for ourselves and our neighbors.

And the Council is very concerned that this project as originally conceived is not viable for the citizens. They might have been hoping we'd go away by now or that the Staff PowerPoints would settle us down; they did not and we will not go away. This is important to all of us and the fact that we are still turning out for Council meetings shows them just how important this is to the Town's citizens.

Here is a dose of reality for us all: the Council will not do an about-face and vote to put the brakes on this project on Monday night. As much as we would like it, we just don't see that happening no matter how articulate our statements are. But that doesn't mean we won't see change on Monday night. They've heard that the original plan was unacceptable and there is a lot of support to make amendments to that plan. We have to stand up and advocate what is acceptable:

(1) That we won't accept a fast-track road construction schedule. The construction of anything on Morriss and Gerault should be commensurate with the need.
(2) That 6-lane roads are fundamentally un-safe for pedestrians. We will only support "improvement" if it does in fact improve pedestrian safety.
(3) That we won't sit back and wait for the design engineers to tell us what we have to live with. We want meaningful input and feedback throughout the design process.
(4) That [nearly] every single neighborhood lining Morriss and Gerault has tough issues created by past development decisions that did not really anticipate a 6-lane road. One-size will not fit all. We have schools, we have access concerns, we have sidewalk problems, we have fencing issues, and more.
(5) That all solutions and options should be on the table.

We point to precedent that the Flower Mound Rd extension of FM 3040 into Wellington was once going to be a 6-lane road but the citizens said no. We are citizens too. Show up at Town Hall on Monday night and we will see change. If we continue to advocate for what is important, right, and just; we will see response.

Anyone can make public comments during the meeting opening, but we don't have to use that this time. The Council has heard our message that this is important to us. They made this a public hearing item, so we will get to both ask questions and state our support/opposition when the agenda item comes up. Our questions will be focused on the meaning and interpretation of the written motion (Agenda Item #8). And our concerns, support, and opposition will be made during the following public comment period. The decision makers will be standing right in front of us, there is no better opportunity to show our convictions.