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Ken Griffin - Re: Fwd: About Coppell's lousy Road infrastructure
From: Ken Griffin
To: R..]eft Harvey
Date: 2/15/2006 9:13 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: About Coppell's lousy Road infrastructure
Thank you for your comments. While ~' won't stoop to your level in my response, ! will provide you with
requested information on Bethel Road.
Voters approved funding for Bethel Road in 1999. The city of Coppell obtained the actual money for construction
through the sale of general obligation bonds in mid 2004. The eight million plus dollars for this project has not
been spent. As !'m sure you are aware, once cities have voter approval and obtain funds, that money can only
be spent on the exact project that we told voters that we would spend it on. The road will be reconstructed as
a four lane divided boulevard with traffic signals at Royal and Freeport.
The City entered into a design contract in February 2001. As you may be aware, the Coppell city limits is about
3000 feet west of Royal Lane. The last 2000 feet to S. H. 121 is in the city of Grapevine and is called Bass Pro
Drive. After we entered into our design contract, we begin working with the city of Grapevine to ensure that
they would construct the last 2000 feet of the road. !t would not have been prudent to widen Bethel and leave
2000 feet as a two lane asphalt road. The city of Grapevine did not have a bond election to build the road, but
they were able to secure funds to construct the portion in Grapevine. At that time, we begin meeting with
Grapevine to coordinate the design and future construction. Tn an attempt to make sure the two projects
meshed, Grapevine hired the same consultant to design their portion of the road.
While this was going on, we submitted our permit information to the federal government to secure a permit to
work in the little creek between Freeport Parkway and Coppell Road. While that creek may be small, it was
declared "Waters of the US" and the permit was not granted. This is critical information, because one of
the components of this project is to convey the drainage to that creek and then on to Grapevine Creek. Without
the permit, we could not construct the drainage and without the drainage we could not construct the road. We
then hired a local environmental firm and experts from Austin to assist us. After many meetings and submittals,
the federal government finally relented on the portion of the creek south of Bethel between Freeport and Bethel
and stated that it was not "Waters of the US". At that time, we entered into a contract to construct that portion
of the drainage (that work is ongoing at this time and should be complete in March 2006). After additional
submittals and meetings with the federal government, we were finally granted our permit in May 2005.
During the time that this was happening, we were meeting with the city of Grapevine to coordinate the future
construction of Bethel / Bass Pro. Both cities agreed that if the project was going to be constructed at the same
time, then it would be wise to have the same contractor performing the work. We then begin working with
Grapevine on an "Tnterlocal Agreement" for the construction. The agreement took many forms during
discussions, but after nearly two years, the attorneys for both cities finally agreed on the language in the
rer oca Agreement. The next step was to obtain Council approval of the Agreement. On February 7, 2006,
Grapevine approved the agreement. And on February 14, 2006, Coppell approved the agreement.
While this was going on, we were working with utility companies to relocate their facilities. The clearing of the
trees on the west end was done so TXU could relocate their power poles. However, when they submitted their
permit, they showed several aerial crossings of Bethel Road. By Ordinance, we do not allow that. However, in
a 2005 lawsuit between several cities and the Public Utility Commission, it was ruled that cities cannot make
TXU go underground unless the cities compensate them. Because a violation of our Ordinance cannot be
approved by Staff, the issue was taken to Council on February 14, 2006. Council provided direction at that
meeting and now we will be directing (and paying) TXU to go underground on about half the proposed aerial
crossings.
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At this time, most issues have been resolved and the plan is the go out for bids early summer with construction
beginning in the fall of 2006.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
Ken Griffin, P. E.
Director of Engineering / Public Works
972-304-3686
k§riffin @d, coppell.tx, us
>>> Engineer 2/15/2006 7:33 AM >>>
>>> "JeffHarvey" <JeffH~containerstore.com> 2/14/2006 1:29 PM >>>
Are there any plans to improve the road infrastructure in Coppeil; specifically Bethel Road between Hwy. 121
and Freepod Parkway? I drive into Coppell to work each day and the biggest "beating" on my commute is having
to wait in long lines of traffic at the stop signs on this stretch of road. It seems that the City of Coppell went
"whole hog" getting new business into the Freeport North area and forgot that they did not have a road
infrastructure to support it. That section of Bethel road is crumbling away due to the truck traffic. I see signs
which promised new road construction based on some bond package passed all the way back in 1999.
However, it is telling that the City blocked out the dates for construction as those dates came and went with no
indication of any construction. I guess the City had other plans for the money.
In addition, I would like to commute to my office on my bicycle, however, these roads in Coppell (Bethel road
and Sandy Lake which is almost as bad), are so unsafe that I cannot bring myself to ride on them during rush
hour.
I did notice that some brush was cleared away from the edges of Bethel Road as though some attempt may be
made to widen the road; however, there has been absolutely no sign of any actual road work being done.
I guess something may finally be done whenever Bethel road finally crumbles into asphalt dust, although, based
on the past, who knows...? I may just find myself driving to work on a dirt road.
R. Jeff Harvey
The Container Store, Inc.
/q[/h(r. ~co~trtb~erstore. co!~
Business: 972.538.6000 ext. 6781
Cell: 214.415.0049
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