Yes, Another Post on Sandy Lake Road...

Yesterday's evening (about 5 pm) traffic was backed up from Denton Tap westward all the way to Whispering Hills. Funny how congested traffic gets when the City staff and Council defer, for over eleven years, the voter's mandate to improve said roadway. One lane in each direction instead of two, and no turning lane... It's a wonder that traffic isn't even more tightly constrained. Thankfully I am not aware of any auto-pedestrian accidents along this roadway for three or so weeks now.

It also baffles me as to why the protected turn onto Denton Tap (northbound, from eastbound Sandy Lake Road) at that time of day only allows about four cars to pass before the signal goes from a protected arrow to green (and thus yielding to oncoming traffic). It can easily take four cycles of traffic light rotation before one can make it through the intersection. Not so in any other direction...

I only wish I had taken photos of the signs the City erected on Sandy Lake years ago that proclaimed that construction would be undertaken on the subject stretch of road sometime between 2003 and 2005. Maybe 2013 and 2015...

Sandy Lake Road...

I remain mystified over the fact that the community outcry over the failure of the City's leadership (both elected and employed) to act on the Sandy Lake Road has been so sedate.

It was great to see the article two issues ago in the Coppell Citizen's Advocate that went into some detail about the accident about two weeks ago between a Coppell High School student who was struck by a car as the student was attempting to cross Sandy Lake Road en route to classes.

In response, the City leaned on its longtime defense by citing limitations within the Americans With Disabilities Act that precludes their intervention without adequate pedestrian accessibility on both sides of the street after a safe crossing has been facilitated. While no-doubt accurate in the strict reading of the law, I find it incredible that a more practical approach hasn't been developed. While there are several thousand feet of Sandy Lake that require improvement (and the remaining asphalt pavement is failing at a very rapid rate), an interim solution could easily be implemented by breaking the project into smaller pieces, with the initial focus being around that intersection with Whispering Hills where the students cross every day.

Another surprising point in the article was that the Coppell Independent School District does not view the crossing as dangerous, and therefore those students who choose not to pay for school bus services (and who have no other way to get to and from the High School), must instead risk their safety every day.

I challenge the City's and CISD's leaders to quit making excuses and to implement creative and productive ways to solve the immediate need to act in the best interests of our children (and other pedestrians) while finally committing to a comprehensive solution for the remaining section of the roadway that was mandated by voters in 1999.