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Oct 16 min read

Index: Crown Road Neighbors Group for Street Repairs.

Updated: Dec 4


Summary: The neighbors who live on Crown Road and adjacent Ranch House Road in Willow Park have spent most of 2024, speaking during Council Meetings, submitting petitions, and demanding attention from the City, all to restore the form and function of their properties damaged or changed by the City's Street Improvement Project.



Latest Update: updated 04 December 2024; posted 02 October, 2024

Note: Willow Park Civics is about Willow Park but is NOT associated with or managed by the City of Willow Park.





 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;

indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist


Index: Crown Road Neighbors Group for Street Repairs.

The neighbors who live on Crown Road and adjacent Ranch House Road in Willow Park have spent most of 2024, speaking during a half dozen Council Meetings, submitting several petitions, and demanding attention from the City, all to restore the form and function of their properties damaged or changed by the City's Street Improvement Project.


Journal


• Road Work Notice, Speed hump installation December 5 on Crown Road, City of Willow Park Website, posted 04 December 2024

Crews will be installing speed humps on Dec. 5 on Crown Road south of Ranch House Road.

Traffic on Crown Road from Ranch House Road to the city limits will be NORTHBOUND only beginning at 9 a.m.

Beginning around mid-day, traffic will be SOUTHBOUND only through the end of the day.

Please use an alternate route when possible and watch for workers in the area.


Citizen participation works. The Crown Road Neighbors Group for Street Repairs has, once again, made a big difference in the quality of life in Willow Park. The Group identified a large "inaccuracy" in a City report and -- even before 30 neighbors attended the Council Meeting -- precipitated a change back to the City's promise of 7 Speed Humps on Crown Rd. Details in linked blog.


The changes the Council is set to approve at the 26 November Council Meeting will affect ALL Willow Park Citizens. The City hired an engineer, who recommended 7 speed bumps to calm the excessive speeding on the new, cement Crown Rd, which the City approved. Then the City Administration arbitrarily changed the number of necessary speed bumps to 3. Plan to attend or to send a copy of your concerns to the City and to the Crown Road Neighborhood Street Project.


• 26 November 2024 Council Meeting, Willow Park Civics Blog, posted 2 November 2024

8. Discussion/Action: Crown Road Update.• Background: At the request of Council, staff deployed speed trailers to measure the effectiveness of the recently installed speed humps. Attached are two data sets, one prior to the installation of speed humps, and one after the installation of speed humps.


• Results of Crown Rd Neighborhood survey on Speed Humps. Willow Park Civics Blog, posted 24 October 2024

This is an outstanding example of our what we can accomplish together." Crown Road Neighborhood Street Project. Last week, the Crown Road Neighborhood Street Project put out a call for feedback, from Crown Road residents, about the newly installed Speed Humps on Crown Road. In addition, the Project met with Mayor Moss. Here are the neighborhood feedback results and meeting notes of the discussion with Mayor Moss.


The neighbors who live on Crown Road and adjacent Ranch House Road in Willow Park have spent most of 2024, speaking during a half dozen Council Meetings, submitting several petitions, and demanding attention from the City, all to restore the form and function of their properties damaged or changed by the City's Street Improvement Project. Here are October - September 2024 emails from neighbors to neighbors, updating the City's actions. Details in linked blog.



On 26 September, 2024, the City of Willow Park posted a Road Work Notice indicating the installation of the Crown Road Speed Humps will be started and completed on 27 September, 2024. The original plan was to install seven Crown Road Speed Humps in order to calm the traffic speed to the posted 30 mph.  However, the City subsequently changed the number of Crown Road Speed Humps from seven to three, and then monitor and reevaluate as needed.


• 23 July 2024 Council Meeting, Agenda Item 6. Quarterly Department Reports / e. Public Works Streets/ Projects [in .pdf]

In the next several months:

• Driveway Approaches

• Jacob Martin and city staff met with the Crown Road and Ranch House Road residents to discuss the expansion of the driveway approaches.

• City’s expansion of the driveway approaches to meet the city’s minimum standard dimensions for drive approaches on streets with an overall width of 30 feet or more which was recommended to be 14 feet in width projected to the property line and an approach radius of 8 feet.

• Ditch Grading and Hydromulch

• The plans call for all slopes to be 3:1. Regrade the drainage channels as needed to meet the required side slopes.

• Hydromulch and water right-of-way areas to establish a uniform stand of the specified grasses.

• Speed Humps

• Install speed humps on Crown Road.


 For the fourth Council Meeting in a row, Citizens addressed the Council with their requests for the City to keep its promises made during the 2022 Street Improvement Project: to put the function of their driveways, bar ditches, and city easements back the way they were before the City's "Street Improvements." As reply, the City has developed new driveway standards, but current Willow Park private driveways are anything but standard.


• 25 June 2024 Council Meeting, Agenda Item 3.


• Brake It or Break It. New Speed Humps for Willow Park., Willow Park Civics Blog, posted 17 June 2024

The new cement streets in Willow Park are tempting drivers beyond that which they can bear -- and some bear down our 30 mph residential streets at 80 mph. Thanks to Willow Park Citizens, who keep bringing the problem to the City, the Willow Park Council has approved a new Speed Hump Policy and are starting installation of Speed Humps on Crown Road.


• 2. Discussion/Action: to consider installation of speed humps on Crown Road.

• 3. Discussion/Action: to consider maintenance on city right-of-ways on Crown and Ranch House Road.

• 4. Discussion/Action: to consider the expansion of driveway approaches for the 2022 Street Projects.

• 5. Discussion/Action: to approve a Speed Hump Installation Policy


 For the second City Council Meeting in a row, the Citizens along Crown Road and adjacent streets came before the City Council to insist the City keep its promise to leave Citizen property in the same condition or better than it was before the 2022 Street Improvement Project, which "improved" the the roads in front of their houses. And the 2022 Street Improvement Project will not be successful or complete until every resident has their property "put back the way it was" in form AND function.


• Agenda Item 2. Discussion/Action: to accept the presentations from Staff regarding the 2022 Street Projects


"My mother taught me to leave things better than I found them, but we are not experiencing that from you guys." A good summary of the issues that are plaguing many of those who live along the latest Willow Park street construction project. But this time the voices are loud enough to get the City's attention. Add your name and concerns to the list of corrections.


• 14 May 2024 Council Meeting, Public Comments


• Willow Park Street Improvement Projects, Index, Willow Park Civics Blog, 31 December 2023


• Street Improvement Projects, Crown Road, Willow Park Civics Blog, 09 May 2023




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