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Pioneer Trail

There’s a new road in Cedar Hill and its called “Pioneer Trail.”

To the north of the new Government Center there is a small connector road connecting Cedar Hill Road and Uptown Blvd.

At a prior City Council meeting, we struggled to name the road. We floated various names, some of which included “Cedar Hill”. We got feedback from the Fire Department and the Post Office asking us (actually begging us) not to name it “Cedar Hill” anything. There are just too many roads that start with that name and it becomes confusing.

So, after seeking input from the Historical Society and others, we have settled on “Pioneer Trail” in honor of Cedar Hill being part of the route often traveled by early settlers in this region.

I expect the street sign to be posted in short order and the road open for business!

Best Southwest Cities Adopt Resolutions Backing Trinity Toll Road

The city councils of Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and Lancaster – collectively known as the Best Southwest Cities – recently adopted resolutions supporting the proposed Trinity Parkway in Dallas.

Cedar Hill’s and DeSoto’s resolutions directly encourage Dallas voters to defeat Proposition 1 on the Nov. 6 ballot, which calls for blocking construction of a high-speed toll road inside the Trinity River levees.

Officials with the cities say that killing the toll road, which is designed to relieve traffic congestion around downtown Dallas, would jeopardize southern sector projects, such as reconstructing the Mixmaster and widening south Interstate 35E and U.S. Highway 67. Three of the resolutions passed unanimously.

The Duncanville council split 4-3, with the minority saying the city shouldn’t campaign in another jurisdiction’s election. The cities sent their resolutions, which carry no legal weight, to Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert last week.

Source: Dallas Morning News

The Top 10 Reasons to “Vote No” to Save the Trinity

By voting NO to SAVE THE TRINITY, the vision approved in 1998 – including flood control, lakes, recreational areas, and transportation improvements – will become a reality. The money approved in the 1998 bond election will be combined with toll income and federal, state and private dollars to create a 10,000-acre park with lakes, trails, athletic fields and an equestrian center.

Here are the Top 10 reasons to VOTE NO against the Trinity Parkway referendum on November 6:

1. Vote NO so that the Trinity Project, as approved by the voters in 1998, can move forward and deliver flood protection, lakes, parks, recreational areas, and transportation improvements. Read more

Proposed Changes to Impact Fees

The City Council convened a Special meeting on Tuesday, September 18, to discuss changes to the city’s impact fees. Although the ordinance has not yet been approved, the Council reached a general consensus on a plan to increase impact fees by 7%, 5% and 5% over the next 3 years. The details will be presented in a proposed ordinance at the next regular Council meeting.

What are impact fees? In short, impact fees are fees cities charge developers to help pay for the cost of new infrastructure. It is an attempt to shift the burden of paying for public improvements to developers.

Municipalities charge many types of development-related fees. Most fall into three broad categories: (1) planning fees, which cover the administrative costs associated with reviewing required planning documents; (2) building permit, plan check, and inspection fees, which cover the costs of reviewing building permit and other site specific permit applications; and (3) capital facilities fees, or development impact fees, which cover the up-front costs of providing capital infrastructure. Read more

Red-Light Cameras Going Up

By LOYD BRUMFIELD / Today Newspapers

The Cedar Hill Police Department has recorded an estimated 200 violations since May 14 at its one red-light camera at Belt Line and Clark roads.

Four more red-light camera intersections went online June 5, and a fifth is scheduled to be operational by June 20.

Like the first camera at Clark and Belt Line, the others will operate under a 30-day warning period for drivers before violations will be recorded for real.

FM 1382 is the focal point for most of the cameras. One is going up to observe the westbound service road at FM 1382 and the Highway 67 overpass and another is going up at the eastbound service road. Read more

Pleasant Run Road Intersection Closures

The City of Cedar Hill is nearing completion of the eastbound lanes of the Pleasant Run Road reconstruction from west of Old Clark Road to Balfour Drive.Beginning the week of March 5, 2007, the intersections of Pleasant Run Road at Old Clark Road and Pleasant Run Road at Nottingham will be closed to accommodate the reconstruction of the intersections to new pavement. The intersections are expected to remain closed for approximately 45 days.Bent Creek residents may use Balfour Drive to enter and exit the subdivision. Residents of Crescent Place, Crescent Point, Cresthaven Village and Crestview Nursing may exit from their respective campuses. Old Clark Road will be restricted to local traffic only. Residents on Old Clark Road may exit north to High Pointe Lane or Wintergreen Road.For updated information and a map of the road closure visit the City’s website at www.cedarhilltx.com or contact the Public Works Department at (972) 291-5126.

FM 1382 Lane Closures

I’ve had a few people ask me about the lane closures on FM 1382, so in the interest of efficiency, I thought I would post some information about it.

The City is widening FM 1382 and other roadways around the area where the new Lifestyle Center is being built. FM 1382, for example, is being expanded from four to six lanes from Hwy 67 to Straus Rd.

We have expedited the project and hope to be out of the retail corridor (Uptown Blvd. to Hwy. 67) by Thanksgiving.

Road construction, and the inevitable delays, can be frustrating. This particular construction is relatively simple, but unfortunately, occurs in a difficult spot and will be a disruption and inconvenience until completed. We are going to consult with TXDOT and the contractor to evaluate these problems and consider where adjustments in the traffic control plan and/or signal timing can ease the pain.

Update: Our Public Works Department is attempting to lessen the traffic congestion. As a result, they have reconfigured how construction is being coordinated. As a result, construction will take longer, but hopefully, it will be more bearable.

Street Rehabilitation Projects

Last night, the City Council approved the FY 05-06 Street Rehabilitation Projects. The rehabilitation will either be an overlay or a slurry seal. A slurry seal is a cold-mix paving system that can fix a broad range of problems on streets. Think of it as an industrial grade asphalt surfacing.

We don’t have hard and fast completion dates for all these projects, but they will be completed through out the year.

1. Bear Creek Road — Spot repair/reconstruction - as needed (Overlay)
2. Summit Pl. (Overlay)
3. Angela Court (Overlay)
4. Hood St. (Overlay)
5. Linkhaven Dr. (Overlay)
6. Randy Dr. — North of Kingswood Dr. (Overlay)
7. Robin Rd (Overlay)
8. Highland Dr — From Whitney to Beltline (Overlay)
9. Whitney St. — 200 Blk. From Mckinley to Matterhorn (Overlay)
10. McKinley St. — 400 Blk (Overlay)
11. Everest St. — 400 Blk (Overlay)
12. Long Ct — 700 Blk (Overlay)
13. Yorkshire Dr. (Slurry Seal)
14. Yorkshire Ct. (Slurry Seal)
15. Cambridge Dr. (Slurry Seal)
16. Bristol Dr. (Slurry Seal)
17. Valerie Dr. (Slurry Seal)
18. Madlynne Dr. (Slurry Seal)
19. Sharon Dr. (Slurry Seal)
20. Kariann Dr. (Slurry Seal)
21. Meadowridge Dr. (Slurry Seal)
22. Daniel Ln. (Slurry Seal)
23. Bradshaw St. (Slurry Seal)
24. Northwood Tr. (Slurry Seal)
25. Jorgenson Rd. (Slurry Seal)

Budget Highlights

The 2006 Budget has been finalized. We will officially vote on it in an upcoming meeting, but for all intents and purposes, it is final. This year we had a number of important issues to tackle. I discussed some of these issues in one of my prior posts. See Refocus. I think we were successful in addressing some of the most important needs. Here are some of the key points:

More Police. We added 5 more police officers. Adding more officers puts more officers on the streets more of the time and will support our public safety as the city grows over the next year.

More Firefighters. We added 4 more firefighters and will purchase a new fire engine. More firefighters and new equipment gives us the ability to respond with firefighters and paramedics from the same station at the same time.

More Code Enforcement. We added a new code enforcement officer and will purchase computer software that will help all our officers track violations. The number of violations our officers must track can be overwhelming at times. A new officer and software will give them much needed resources to implement the vision for our neighborhoods. More stringent code standards will be implemented in the next few months. See Code Enforcement Report, Residents Mull New Ordinances, and City Wants Input on New Codes.

Drainage and Transportation. We set aside $100,000 (in addition to last year’s $125,000) to help find solutions to the drainage issues facing some of our neighborhoods. We also continued our practice of allocating funds to help offset the costs of future road construction projects.

There are many other important aspects of this year’s budget, but those are the highlights. I hope you will support us as we work toward the vision for our city.

Marchant Scores Victory for Cedar Hill in Final Transportation Bill

Washington, DC – On Friday, Congressman Kenny Marchant (TX-24) secured $2.8 million in federal funds for Cedar Hill transportation projects upon the House passage of the Conference Report for H.R. 3, the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. The measure provides $286.5 billion in funding for federal highway, transit, and road safety programs through the year 2009. The final version of the bill now heads to the White House for President Bush so sign into law.The measure designates $2.8 million for construction of a grade-separated interchange at the intersection of US 67 and Lake Ridge Parkway. The project will be a connector between Lake Ridge Parkway West and the proposed Lake Ridge Parkway East. At this time, there is no direct access from northbound US 67 to Lake Ridge Parkway. Motorists are required to travel approximately one mile to the next intersection to access the highway.”This project will increase access to the area, thereby promoting economic growth,” said Marchant, the only Republican member of the House Transportation Committee from North Texas. “It will benefit Cedar Hill a great deal.”An amendment that was originally introduced by Marchant as a bill was also included in the final transportation conference report. States are given federal money as credit for the funds they contribute to transit projects. Current policy will not credit states if a single dollar of federal funds is used toward a toll project. This provision changes the toll credit calculation to take into account the state level of financial investment in a toll project.The bill is a big step for Texas towards gaining equity under the highway funding formula. Under current law Texas receives .88 for every dollar it sends to Washington in gas taxes. This law bumps it a minimum of .92 for every dollar in gas taxes by the year 2008.”America desperately needed a new agreement on transportation funding, and Congress was able to deliver,” Marchant noted. “States face growing traffic congestion, aging transportation infrastructure, and increased demand upon their limited transportation funding. We must provide the means to build needed infrastructure and keep our country moving.”H.R. 3 seeks to alleviate traffic congestion problems, improve driver safety, and correct inefficient highway projects. It also provides for the creation of millions of new jobs for Americans in the transportation sector.”Finding solutions to transportation problems in the Dallas/Fort worth region has been a priority of mine from day one,” said Marchant. “I am pleased that the Transportation Equity Act included such a large amount of funds for the Metroplex. North Texans should know that this bill help considerably with traffic and highway related concerns in our area.”

Cities Sort Out Regional Growth

An exerpt of an article by Herb Booth from the May 19, 2005 Dallas Morning News …

Another big winner in southwest Dallas County is Cedar Hill, which shows 41,700 residents in 2005, compared with 40,000 in 2004, a 4.25 percent increase. Cedar Hill’s population is estimated to hit 48,686 in 2010.

Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke said growth for the sake of growth is not a good thing, but he added that cities must grow to diversify their tax bases.

He, too, said keeping up with infrastructure is the challenge.

“It’s important for a city to retain its identity, too,” Mr. Franke said. “When we saw a lot of growth coming to Cedar Hill, that’s what we worked about. If you become simply an extension of Dallas, then you could lose out. You want to and have to keep that identity.”

The article goes on to discuss similar challenges being faced by Lancaster, Red Oak, and DeSoto. Duncanville, which has little room left to grow, faces a different set of challenges.

Gateway Horizon Project

Tim Nesbitt, P.E., Project Manager for the Southern Gateway project gave a presntation Monday night on TXDoTs plans for Hwy 67. Design of Hwy 67 north of FM 1382 is already complete and is waiting for appropriation of funds. This meeting was for Hwy 67 south of FM 1382 to 287. It will likely be extended even farther, perhaps almost to Venus.

The design process goes through many phases: a major investment study (MIS), design, environmental assessesment, final design, and finally, Construction. Hwy 67 will ultimately intersect with the anticipated Loop 9 corridor. More information on Loop 9 is available at www.loop9.org.

There are numerous transportation improvements considered:
1. bicycle/pedestrian
2. city street improvements
3. bus transit
4. rail transit
5. HOV/managed lanes
6. freeway improvements
7. Transportation Systems Management - like responding to accidents, changeable signs, courtesy patrol
8. Transportation Demand Management - like van pool, flexible work hours, telecommuting

The Gateway Horizon project will look at all these areas in the study area. Regarding the freeway improvements, they will review:
• Ramping changes
• Four-lane alternatives
• Six-lane alternatives

So how long is this going to take? They anticipate that by Spring 2005, they will have completed the evaluation of the alternatives. By Summer 2005 they hope to have finished the design schmatic & environmental documents. In the Summer 2006 public hearing where these findings will be discussed.

Regional Rail and Economic Impact Seminar

Transportation, both road and rail, for our region with its expected growth from 5 to 9 million people by 2030, makes planning for the future imperative. Research and demographic studies support the fact that the type of development that is occurring today segregates land uses and forces people into cars. We cannot build enough roads, afford to finance new roads, or maintain existing road networks to handle the increase in our population. It is important for cities to begin planning for alternative transportation to better knit the region together.

The City of Lancaster and Operation Clean Sweep in cooperation with the Best Southwest Chamber of Commerce held a Regional Rail and Economic Impact seminar tonight. Program presenters were Mike Sims, and Alicia Hopkins of the NCTCOG and Dennis Wilson of Townscape, Inc.

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