Apr 10, 2006 10:53 pm US/Central
Highland Park Residents Fight Road Expansion
by Jay Gormley
HIGHLAND PARK (CBS 11 News) ―
Mockingbird Lane in Highland Park is home to some of the most beautiful houses in Dallas. It's also home to a battle that has pitted neighbors against city hall.
The city wants to widen parts of the road from Hillcrest to the Dallas Tollway in order to ease traffic. However, most residents are bitterly against the idea.
"If you build it, they will come," is the motto of neighbors who oppose widening Mockingbird. They feel such a move will only encourage more traffic, but the city says it's a step that has to be taken as the population grows.
The original plan called for street widening and adding left turn lanes at 10 different intersections.
After the Highland Park council received hundreds of complaints, there's now a new plan on the table.
The new plan reduces the number of left turn lanes from 10 to three... specifically at the intersections of Golf Drive, High School Avenue and Bryon Avenue.
The new proposal also calls for actually reducing parts of the road from 31 feet to 30 feet, in order to save 95% of the trees along Mockingbird.
But some neighbors argue the new plan is still not enough.
"I'm afraid that if they even open left turn lanes at some intersections that people will think of it as a street that is more easily traveled and forget that it is a residential community that they're traveling through," said resident, Emily Shackelford.
The one part of the plan that remains the same impacts Mockingbird from Lomo Alto to the Dallas Tollway. It calls for adding another lane for easier access to the Tollway.
"The Town of Highland Park citizens want no widening at any position, no location on Mockingbird. Why? Because we do not want more traffic, we do not want increased traffic capacity or increased traffic flow," said resident, Weldon Davis.
Despite opposition the number of critics has dwindled since the new plan was put forward.
When the old plan was still on the table in February, it was standing room only at the council meeting. With a new plan up for debate the crowd was significantly smaller.
The Highland Park council will vote on the revised plan in two weeks.
(CBS 11 News)
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