ST9302-CS011107
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110 Doheck.a Drive
Coppell, T_X 75019
November 7, 2001,
The Honorable Candy Sheehan, Mayor
Members of the City Council
255 Parkway Boulevard
P.O. Box 9478
Coppell, Texas 75019
Dear Mayor Sheehan,
Dear Council h`embers,
I believe there is a design flaw in the new Sandy bake Road, and I urge you
to correct it.
The street I live on, Dobecka P.rive, is a dead end street extending south from
East Sandy Lake Road. I live on the east side of Dobecka Drive, which has no
alley, so my driveway connects only to Dobecka Drive. The sole access to my house
is from Sandy Lake Road onto Dobecka Drive.
Under the new construction, an unbresken median strip separates eastbound Sandy
Lake from westbound Sandy Lake at Dobecka Drive. This new design means it .is now
impossible for vehicles to turn left from Dobecka onto westbound Sandy Lake, or
to turn from westbound Sandy Lake south onto Dobecka.
This new design imposes a hardship on myself, my family, and the other families
on Dobecka Drive. I believe it also imposes a hardship on all persons driving on
Sandy Lake Road. I believe the hardship is pointless and unnecessary; therefore '
I urge you and the Council to direct that the design be changed so that a median
break is constructed on Sandy Lake Road at Dobecka Drive, together with a left
turn lane on westbound Sandy Lake.
The hardship on myself and my neighbors on Dobecka Drive is as follows: In
order to leave our homes and travel westbound on Sandy Lake, we must first go
east on Sandy Lake to Trail wood, and make a U-turn on Sandy Lake. In order to
return to our homes when travelling westbound on Sandy Lake, we must go further
west to Simmons, and LT-turn on Sandy Lake again. Besides imposing costs on us
in terms of time lost, fuel wasted, and extra depreciation on our cars, this also
imposes similar costs on delivery vehicles serving our homes.
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A more serious issue is that the lack of full access may delay emergency
vehicles such as ambulances taking anyone from Dobecka Drive to a hospital going
westbound, or delay police cars and fire engines approaching Dobecka westbound.
The unbroken median strip at Dobecka Drive has blocked left turns for about
three weeks now. During this time, I have had to make many U-turns on Sandy
Lake Road, and in the process I have discovered another hardship, one. that will
be imposed on all persons who dzive on Sandy Lalce P.oad. Bdcause of the narrow-
ness of the median, it is impossible to make a U-turn from the left turn lane
onto the left-hand lane going the other way. Given the turning radius of most
common vehicles, a U-turn can only be made from the travel lanes on one side of
Sandy Lake to the far right-hand lane of the other direction. This implies that
a U-turn disrupts traffic on Sandy Lake far more than a simple left turn at a
median break.
If the point of prohibiting median breaks at side streets is to improve the
flow of traffic, then this design feature fails to accomplish this goal. Fesi-
dents on the east side of Dobecka Drive., as well as all delivery vehicles and
visitors, have no other access. We must turn left from Dobecka onto Sandy Lake,
and from Sandy Lake onto Dobecka. Without a median break, we will be forced to
make numerous U-turns, disrupting the flow of traffic, and imposing hardships on
all drivers using Sandy Iake Road.
I strongly urge you, the rayor and City Council, to direct a median break and
left turn lane be constructed on Sandy Lake Road at Dobecka Drive as soon as
possible,-to correct this design flaw. A median break here will improve the
flow of traffic, not worsen it.
Please contact me to let me know i.f you will agree to do this, or if not and
why you disagree o~ith my analysis. My home telephone number is 972-462-8534.
NIy work number is 972-721-5002. My email addresses are marshdanie@aol,com and
dmarsh@gsm.udallas.edu. Or you may write to me by post at my home address.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter. I look forward to hearing
from you,
Yours truly,
~~ly ~~
Daniel W. Marsh
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