Summary: 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.
Latest Update: posted 10 June 2024
Willow Park Citizens keep demanding the City "put it back the way it was." 2022 Street Improvement Project.
• Index: Report, Citizen Public Comments during the 28 May 2024 Council Meeting, Sources and Resources
• [*] source
• Quotes are anonymous, but may be heard in their entirety in the Council Meeting videos posted on every Council Meeting webpage. [1] [2]
For the second City Council Meeting in a row [1], 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.
Almost twenty Citizens supported eight Neighbors who spoke for over 30 minutes, telling the Council the Citizens have pledged to each other to keep attending Council Meetings until the City keeps their promises. [1]
During the 14 May 2024 Council Meeting [2], over thirty citizens supported sixteen fellow citizens who spoke for 45 minutes about the "nightmare" that has negatively affected their property and life quality. [2]
Willow Park Civics Blog > Willow Park citizens demand attention and correction in “nightmare” Streets Improvement Project. And they are getting results.
In response, the City made a presentation to the Council during its 28 May 2024 meeting [1] Presentation: In .pdf
The Council assigned the City the task of reviewing Citizen's concerns and delivering possible solutions at the next Council Meeting.
However, the one issue that was not addressed was the City's lack of communication with the citizens who were affected by the street improvements. "We were assured that before the changes were made, we were going to have a discussion, but I received no discussion or communication from the city, and I don't know any neighbor who has... We had to drive across our property for two months to get to the main road."
To emphasize the lack of communication, there was no notice sent by the City about this agenda item (#2) on 28 May 2024 Council Meeting agenda. Citizens had to call the City or call Neighbors. In fact, the Agenda for that week's council meeting meeting -- and all City Meetings -- was posted three levels down in the City of Willow Park's website, at 6 p.m., the Friday evening before the Memorial Day Weekend, giving Willow Park Citizens less than a business day before the Council Meeting.
During their discussion of the Citizen's concerns and the City's presentation of proposed solutions, Council Runnebaum indicated, "that there are another 25-30 roads/streets to fix in the city... doing more in the Crown Road area would add an expense to other citizens in town... We’ve done what we’re supposed to do and that’s it,” he said. “We’re asking people to spend more money so people on Crown can get into their driveway easier. Unacceptable.” [5]
However, Mayor Pro-tem Young finally hit a cornerstone of these issues about the 2022 Street Improvement Project. The nature of Crown Road and other arterial roads in Willow Park has changed -- in form and in function.
Willow Park has designated five main roads in Willow Park as arterial roads Ranch House Road, Crown Road, Sam Bass Road, Squaw Creek Road, Kings Gate Road; these roads are being reconstructed in cement. This "arterial" designation changes the form AND the function of those Willow Park streets. [4]
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.
Citizen Public Comments during the 28 May 2024 Council Meeting [1]
• Driveways and driveway bibs
• "A lot of our neighbors who came last time [last council meeting] said the are not coming back because they believe nothing is going to happen."
• One of the speakers invited the council "to come to my house to see my driveway and bar ditch. You come to my house to ask for my vote, now come to my house and see the damage to my property."
• We are happy the bad roads have been replaced and repaired but now we want you to repair our easement damage. Our damages are being ignored and we are not happy about the city's communication.
• "We were told the size and the shape of our drive would be the same but the shape has changed."
• Speed
"The roads are so good that cars are going faster making it harder to get into our driveways."
"We have school buses going 50 to 60 mph" and the audience agreed.
• Bar ditches and drainage
"After the last council meeting XIT came and smoothed and cleaned the bar ditch in front of our house; however after this morning's heavy rain the bar ditch is a mess again."
Sources and Resources
[1] 28 May 2024 Council Meeting, Agenda Item 2, Discussion/Action: to accept the presentations from Staff regarding the 2022 Street Projects.
• Minutes:
Gretchen Vasquez, City Engineer gave a presentation on the 2022 Street Projects. Police Chief Daniel Franklin gave a brief presentation on the survey conducted by the Willow Police Department.
Eric Hoopes at 41 Crown Rd.; Marsh Weiershausen at 70 Crown Rd.; Dixie Smith at 3520 Ranch House Rd.; Teresa Palmer at 3521 Ranch House Rd.; Brad McKerley at 109 Trinity Dr.; Frances Horch at 901 Sam Bass Ct.; Roy Ramos at 101 Trinity Dr.; Beverly Sipes at 72 Crown Rd.; Clifford Voorhees at 166 Sam Bass Rd.; and Sandy Young at 76 Crown Rd. all spoke before the City Council.
The City Council directed staff to provide a report for the city rights-of-ways, driveway approaches and traffic control for the next meeting on June 11th. The City Council also requested staff to research driveway design standards for thoroughfare roads and a list of remaining concrete streets to be replaced.
• Willow Park Civics Research
• Presentation: In .pdf
• Index: 2022 Street Improvements Presentation at 28 May 2024 Council Meeting
• Background
• Pre-construction
• An inventory of the City’s existing streets was performed including arterial, collector, and local streets.
• An evaluation was made of the condition of each street and improvements recommended based on the type of street, traffic volume, condition, and community input.
• Local streets that saw lower traffic volume as well as lower weight vehicles were reconstructed, while streets that saw heavier traffic volumes and loads warranted more expensive concrete paving. (cont.)
• Post-construction
• A signed petition was submitted to the City Council on May 14th, 2024 [2] from residents of Willow Park regarding remedies for roadway safety and property damage.
• The key elements of the petition included speeding on Crown Road, narrow drive approaches, roadside ditch grading/slope, and landscaping damages.
• City staff set forth to explore the issues comprehensively and present our ideas for a resolution.
• Project Description
• Project Goals
• Residents' Concerns
• Roadside Ditch Grading/Slope
• Narrow Drive Approaches
• Landscaping Damages
• Neighborhood Traffic Calming
• Roadside Ditch Grading/Slope
• Drive Approaches
• Landscaping Damages
• City of Willow Park Design Criteria
• Street System Improvements
• Street Section Detail
• Mowing Bar Ditches
• Neighborhood Traffic Calming
• Safety Benefits of Traffic Calming
• Traffic Calming Tools > Vertical Deflection (4 pages), Horizontal Deflection (2 pages)
[2] 14 May 2024 Council Meeting, Public Comments
• Minutes:
• Sam Minnch at 35 Crown Rd.; Jon Ivonen at 49 Crown Rd.; Tara Hoopes at 41 Crown Rd.; Elizabeth Ivonen at 49 Crown Rd.; Clifford Voorhees at 116 Sam Bass Rd.; Dennis Evans at 75 Crown Rd.; Ruth Taylor at 81 Crown Rd.; Roy Ramos at 101 Trinity Dr.; Ned Hannah at 66 Crown Rd.; Teresa Palmer at 3521 Ranch House Rd.; Marsh Weiershausen at 70 Crown Rd.; Ellen Wilson at 713 W. Jockey; Brad McKerley at 109 Trinity Dr.; Jordan Phillips at 80 Crown Rd.; and James Smith at 45 Crown Rd. all spoke before the city council regarding various issues on Crown Rd. and Ranch House Rd. Eric Hoopes at 41 Crown Rd. submitted his public comment request via email along with a petition addressing Crown Rd. construction and speeding.
[3] Willow Park Civics Blog > Willow Park citizens demand attention and correction in “nightmare” Streets Improvement Project. And they are getting results.
[4] Willow Park Civics Research on arterial roads
"Arterial roads are high-capacity roads that are a vital part of the transportation system, connecting local roads to national highways and freeways."
• 3.12. Arterial Highway. A highway used primarily for through traffic and usually on a continuous route. TXDoT > Abbreviations and Definitions
• Principle Arterial Street System (PASS) City streets included in the State Highway System under the 1988 ? 1992 Urban System/PASS Program for major urbanized areas (Category 6). The purpose of the PASS is to improve mobility by developing a high level urban arterial street system to connect and serve freeways and expressways and relieve major traffic corridors. TXDoT > Highway designations
[5] Council to look into residents road complaints, The Community News, 31 May 2024
Crown Road area with traffic also being assessed
Posted Thursday, May 30, 2024 3:09 pm
By Rick Mauch
The Community News
At its meeting on Tuesday, May 28, the Willow Park City Council once again heard from numerous residents in the Crown Road area with various complaints following work to repair the streets and improve drainage.
It’s the second straight meeting in which residents from that area, which includes streets in the 2022 street improvement project, Crown Road, Ranch House Road, King's Gate Road, Sam Bass Road, Old Ford Road, Sam Bass Court, Trinity Court, Trinity Drive, Crested Butte Court, Ridge Haven Court and Ridge Haven Court. A group featuring many of the same residents appeared before the council at the May 14 meeting.
The majority of complaints this time were concerning right of way and driveway widths, along with traffic speed. Previously, there were complaints about grass and weeds growing in and around the drainage ditches near their yards, but the city has expanded its mowing contract to address the issue.
“That was awesome. Glad that somebody came out,” said Chris Voorhees, a resident in the area. “Much nicer.”
City Manager Bryan Grimes had already authorized the mowing before the May 14 meeting. However, because the residents spoke during a public comments portion, he and council members could not interact with them, so he could not make an announcement.
At the end of the May 14 meeting Mayor Pro Tem Lea Young asked that the subject be put on an upcoming agenda in the near future.
Another resident, Roy Ramos, suggested city officials come out and survey the area, saying it wouldn’t take them long to get from City Hall to the area.
“I got here in about three minutes,” he said, drawing a laugh from the council and audience when he turned and looked at Police Chief Daniel Franklin and added, “Oh, I wasn’t speeding.”
The width of driveways was a major topic both on May 14 and Tuesday. City Manager Bryan Grimes has declared that each was built back to at least 12 in width per the city’s minimum standard, which was reinforced during a presentation Tuesday by City Staff Engineer Gretchen Vasquez.
However, Young suggested that given the work done, the driveway approaches may no longer be suitable for residents. The upcoming study by city staff will take into consideration widening driveways.
Fellow Council Member Greg Runnebaum disagreed with the consideration to do so. He said his property has had an 11-foot driveway for 40 years and vehicles of all sizes have been able to go in and out.
“There has never been a problem with an 11-foot-wide driveway,” he said.
This prompted an elderly man in the audience to shout out, “You don’t live on that road!”
This drew an immediate response from Mayor Doyle Moss of, “No outbursts.”
Runnebaum would later add that there are another 25-30 roads/streets to fix in the city, saying doing more in the Crown Road area would add an expense to other citizens in town.
“We’ve done what we’re supposed to do and that’s it,” he said. “We’re asking people to spend more money so people on Crown can get into their driveway easier. Unacceptable.”
Nonetheless, the subject will be looked into by the city, along with whether to continue to mow the area or place concrete in drainage ditches.
“
It would certainly solve the maintenance problem. I just didn’t think it would be sightly,” Grimes said, adding, “If you’re gonna put concrete in, do it now.”
Other options, which would continue to involve mowing, are to put down sod or hydromulch. Grimes did not recommend sod, largely because of its cost and subsequent time issue.
Moss stressed the topic be on the June 11 agenda, telling the audience, “I live in the city and I’m just as concerned as you all are. I promise you we’re going to do all we can to make it right.
“Will everybody be happy? Probably not. But I promise you the city is going to do all we can.”
The 2022 street improvements project consisted of removing and replacing approximately 36,500 square yards of existing asphalt pavement with concrete paving and replacing approximately 18,600 square yards of asphalt pavement with 2-inch hot-mix asphaltic concrete pavement. The project also included roadside ditch grading, driveway replacement, and new bike lanes.
Goals were to:
Improve road infrastructure.
Rehabilitate pavement.
Promote bicycle mobility.
Improve surface drainage system.
Protect property from the potential damages caused by stormwater runoff.
Reduce infrastructure costs.
Grimes made a point late in the discussion to say that two things are clear, however. The streets are in great condition and there were no complaints about drainage.
"I drove Crown at 8:30 in the morning on a downpour and water was draining, just like it’s supposed to,” he said.
Speeding
The council also addressed complaints of speeding in the Crown Road area through a "traffic calming" study. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), traffic calming reduces automobile speeds or volumes, mainly through the use of physical measures, to increase safety.
Franklin said a study suggested the best possible solution would be to install speed humps in the area. These are similar to speed bumps, often found in parking lots, for example. However, speed humps tend to be slightly smaller in height and longer.
“Speed humps are more applicable to that area because of the amount of traffic,” Franklin said.
Franklin said a study of the area showed that an average of 620 cars per day traveled down the road during a 28-day span. He said the average speed of 85 percent of those cars was 38 miles per hour with a speed limit of 30.
“It is basically over the speed limit,” he said, acknowledging that there is speeding in the area, but not as high as some have stated.
Franklin added that the road improvements have made the area, already a thoroughfare, now a major artery for the city. Also, after the improvements, per state law, with it being a major artery, folks can no longer park on the side of the road.
“
When I came here that road was pretty bad. Nobody traveled it,” Franklin said.
“When you put the concrete down you opened it up,” Grimes said.
