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George Marshall - Fwd: Defprest Road Improvement
From: CityCouncil
To: Clay Phillips; Ken Griffin; Mario Canizares
Date:12/9/2011 3:08 PM
Subject:Fwd: Defprest Road Improvement
>>> TIM LOUDERMILK <tim.loudermilk@verizon.net> 12/8/2011 7:33 PM >>>
We live on Inglenook Ct. in Coppell and have been long time Coppell Residents. I just left the City's meeting on
the Deforest Road improvements - I appreciate the City attempting to notify the residents of the pending project
and the how it will affect the traffic flow. However, this e-mail is largely to voice my concern about the Deforest
Road project as the center point of the road moves six feet south and the road and sidewalk improvements
require the removal of over 70 trees, some quite large and mature. To my knowledge, that number of trees
removed was not previously communicated to adjacent residents - I thought the plan probably removed about 30
trees, way too many anyway, and I assumed the City would replace some or perhaps move some. This plan will
now change the entire character of this placid country lane (albeit with speeders and other hazards that do need
"curative measure") to more of that of a thoroughfare. This is a huge disappointment to our neighbors, I know, as
we voiced our concerns at an HOA meeting some time back - we are a small HOA, of course, so I suppose
Terry Holmes complaints to the City in his and our behalf were simply unheard.
I know it's too late as the project start date is early January, but this "improvement negatively affects the
character and attraction of the higher end homes in the area, especially. I know the road likely needed update
and at least one sidewalk (for some reason it gets two) due to the high traffic volume of the once country lane.
That said, the removal of that many trees without any replacement, "no room for plantings" - per the third party
and city engineers I spoke to at the public meeting today - seems a contradiction to what Coppell has stood for
in the past. In a city that requires such an abundance of care from developers, is the City moving more and more
towards being just another Plano, disregardful of all but engineering expedience and availability of bond funds
that need spending? (Plano is a nice town but not where we chose to make our home in 1977 - we moved from
Plano.) I discussed this project some time back with a friend long involved in the development business - a civil
engineer/urban planner/architect - who pointed out that the simplest solution was not do a "curb and gutter on
the side" street but simply peak the street and put the storm sewer in the middle, use roll curbs or no curb (the
plan has a 6" concrete curb - like MacArthur - we'll have a mini-MacArthur without the landscape, not many trees
left, and a retaining wall on the south side). Admittedly, my friend did not specifically review the plans, but had
an idea that I mentioned to the engineers at the meeting and I received hollow stares - this was apparently never
considered or violated some engineering premise of the City. I never received any response and I didn't press
them as I knew they had long ago decided - it was too late. (FYI, cities like Austin does the no curb streets at
times.) Now we will just have another speedway for what was once a country lane.
Thanks for listening to my venting and if there is anything to allow a last minute review of this matter, please do
so. I know everyone in the areas adjacent to Deforest Road would sign a petition or something if that's what's
needed, but it could not happen before January.
Thank you, best regards, and Merry Christmas,
Tim Loudermilk
972-393-0788
file://C:\Documents and Settings\radloo\Local Settings\Temp\XPgrpwise\4EE62AE4City...12/15/2011