Grapevine axes controversial Heritage Bridge plan

The proposal to extend Heritage Avenue over the popular Big Bear Creek trail will not be on the November bond package, a major victory for neighbors and anyone who uses the park.

"I didn’t want it just to hang out there and not be resolved. I was really pleased to hear [Councilwoman] Sharon Spencer and Mayor [William D.] Tate say we really need to take it off the plan," said Pippa Robes, who lives on the northern end of where the bridge would have gone. "We value the park and the recreation area far more than putting another road through."

But as the Council directed staff to remove the project from the master thoroughfare plan, a move that will ultimately kill the north/south arterial street, major transportation questions remain unanswered.

All four road projects were removed from the November bond package Aug. 10 at a special meeting.

Those who supported the Heritage Avenue bridge extension say they have to go several minutes out of their way to reach their destination. The bridge would have given Grapevine-Colleyville school district buses a shorter route to several schools. It also would have cut emergency response times on both sides of Big Bear Creek by several minutes.

But Tate looked at the bigger picture.

Transportation officials are planning to widen Texas 121 in Euless with one new lane in each direction. The lane would be for peak travel periods only and would have special signage indicating when drivers can use it, said Val Lopez, public information officer for the Texas Department of Transportation.

The $26 million project from Glade Road south to Texas 183 is scheduled to start construction in 2019.

And Grapevine just hired a new public works director, Bryan Beck, in July who has been driving around the city looking for ways to solve congestion issues.

"I think we need to let the new public works director have some time to look at these projects," Councilwoman Duff O’Dell said.

After the meeting, Robes said she was pleased with the Council’s decision.

"I would much prefer that we were working on improving the roads that we already have," Robes said.

Tate, who has been mayor the majority of the last 44 years, said he has seen too many cases where a new road opens up and quickly becomes a cut-through, especially with drivers from outside Grapevine.

"[Heritage Avenue] would turn into a highway," said Tate, citing the Sam’s Club parking lot that people use as a shortcut. "This would be even worse."

Overwhelming opposition

Hundreds turned out to debate the Heritage Avenue bridge at a town hall meeting last month with the majority being against it. The bridge extension has been planned since 1987 but causes an uprising every time it’s brought up.

Tate said this project needs to be put to bed forever.

"The people have spoken and they spoke very vocally," Tate said. "If you don’t listen to them why have a public hearing? If you put it on a bond issue you continue the animosity and it comes to the same conclusion."

Councilwoman Sharron Spencer agreed, saying this is a volatile issue that got the entire south side of town up in arms.

"When you’ve got that kind of sentiment there’s no wisdom to leaving it on the thoroughfare plan," Spencer said. "I don’t want to see this bridge on anything. We don’t need to be going through this again."

Other road projects that were nixed from the bond package include another extension of Heritage Avenue from Mustang Drive to Texas 26, widening of Euless-Grapevine Road and raising Dove Road out of the floodplain.

With Beck at the helm of public works, Grapevine will be re-evaluating its thoroughfare plan.

"We don’t have to have a bond election to do these," O’Dell said. "We have the resources to do them."

What is on the bond

On Nov. 7, Grapevine voters will consider a $24.5 million bond package with two replacement fire stations, which will be packaged together as one proposition, a new animal control center and improvements to the Grapevine Municipal Golf Course.

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Grapevine axes controversial Heritage Bridge plan."