Old Town-AG040113 ST 03-o (
MEMORANDUM
FROM THE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Kenneth M. Griffin, P.E.,Director of Engineering/Public Works
Date: January 13, 2004
RE: Work Session — Discussion and consideration of the design of Bethel Road
(from Denton Tap Rd. to Freeport Parkway) and a portion of Coppell Rd.
(from Bethel Rd. north to Cooper Lane).
On May 27, 2003, City Council approved a design contract with Freese and Nichols, Inc. for the
design of Bethel Road from Denton Tap Rd. to Freeport Parkway and a portion of Coppell Rd.
from Bethel Rd. north to Cooper Ln. We have been working with the consultant on the concept
plan since that time. The process taken to get to this point included several meetings with the
consultant to discuss the design of the roadway and to provide input on various components of
the design as referenced in the Old Coppell Master Plan. I also provided the consultant with a
preliminary schematic of Bethel Rd. from Denton Tap Rd. to Freeport Parkway, that I had drawn,
that was presented to City Council on February 11, 2003 in Work Session.
The goal of this project has been to try and stay as true as possible to the Old Coppell Master
Plan. This roadway project does not incorporate all components of the Old Coppell Master Plan
as the scope of our project is basically what is contained within the right-of-way of the roadway.
Also, some components of the Old Coppell Master Plan are not yet included because they will be
addressed at other stages i.e., preliminary or final plans. These include various components of
the streetscape layout such as lighting, actual locations of walkways, surface material, etc.
The conceptual plan as presented is to gain City Council consensus so that we can proceed to the
preliminary design phase of the project and stay on track for a proposed bid date of June 2005.
The main items to be reviewed during the conceptual plan deal with the roadway, roadway
configuration at Denton Tap Rd., on-street parking concept, and location of parking spaces. In
accordance with the City of Coppell Thoroughfare Plan, the majority of Bethel Road is designed
as a two-lane roadway, except for the intersection of Bethel Rd. at Denton Tap Rd. At the
intersection of Bethel Rd./Denton Tap there are five lanes provided. There are two westbound
lanes coming from Denton Tap Rd. onto Bethel Rd. that transition down to one lane westbound
approximately 500 feet west of Denton Tap Rd. There are three eastbound lanes leaving Bethel
Rd. to Denton Tap Rd. to provide for a free right-turn lane for southbound Denton Tap Rd., a
dedicated left-turn lane for northbound Denton Tap Rd. and a thru lane on Bethel Rd. to serve the
Creekview subdivision. The transition from one lane eastbound to three lanes eastbound begins
"CITY OF COPPELL ENGINEERING-EXCELLENCE BY DESIGN"
approximately 400 feet west of Denton Tap Rd. Once Bethel Rd. becomes one lane each
direction, it remains one lane each direction until it approaches Freeport Parkway.
As Bethel Rd. approaches Freeport Pkwy, it expands out to a five-lane roadway to accommodate
Bethel Road west of Freeport Parkway. The five lanes are three lanes westbound and two lanes
eastbound. The three lanes westbound comprise a left-turn lane from Bethel Rd. to southbound
Freeport Pkwy. and two thru lanes on Bethel Rd. to the proposed section of Bethel Rd. on the
west side of Freeport Parkway. There are two eastbound lanes to accommodate the two
eastbound lanes from the west side of Freeport Parkway. Again, Bethel Rd., other than the
approach at Denton Tap Rd. and the approach at Freeport Pkwy., is a basic two-lane roadway
approximately 28-feet wide from back of curb to back of curb. This is a typical street section for
a residential roadway in the City of Coppell.
There will be a sidewalk proposed along the south side of Bethel Road for the entire length of the
Bethel Road project. Currently, there is not a sidewalk proposed along the north side due to
some existing constraints. The roadway configuration of Bethel Road changes approximately
300 feet east of Mitchell Street to approximately 100 feet east of North Coppell Rd. to allow for
some on-street parking along Bethel Rd.
Currently, there is approximately 29 on-street parking spaces shown on Bethel Road. The Old
Coppell Master Plan showed not only head-in on-street parking, but also parallel parking along
portions of Bethel Rd. Because of safety concerns, the on-street parallel parking has been
eliminated from this design. Also, along a portion of North Coppell Rd., on-street parking has
been maintained along the west side of Coppell Rd. where it currently exists and also in front of
the Senior Citizens Center where it currently exists. The walkways/sidewalks within the historic
part of Coppell have been widened out to accommodate additional foot traffic. However,
providing the on-street parking and the wider walkways creates a situation where a substantial
amount of additional right-of-way is required from the adjacent properties. Again, this proposed
alignment presented this evening is a concept plan that needs City Council consensus before we
can proceed to the preliminary design phase to start specifically tying down design components
and right-of-way needs.
During the preliminary design phase it is my opinion that some additional design constraints
could be identified that will require additional modification of the project prior to presenting
preliminary plans to City Council for approval. An attempt has been made during the conceptual
design to stay as true as possible to the Old Coppell Master Plan concept, while still
accomplishing the goal of the Thoroughfare Plan to improve the roadway from Denton Tap Rd.
to Freeport Pkwy.
Staff recommends City Council provide direction for the consultant to proceed with the
preliminary design of the roadway to be brought back at a later date for Council approval. Staff
will be making a presentation at the Council meeting and will be available to answer any
questions.
"CITY OF COPPELL ENGINEERING-EXCELLENCE BY DESIGN"
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