Flower Mound residents express unease about road extension project

Several residents turned out June 19 at the Flower Mound Town Council to speak out against a road extension project on Kirkpatrick Lane.

No action was taken on Phase 3 of the project as it was not an agenda item and was meant for discussion and council direction to staff. Town Manager James Childers spoke about the matter, and then Matt Hotelling, senior engineering transportation manager for the town, spoke about the project in a slide presentation, providing background about the project and where it could head in the future.

What happened?

Residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting and expressed concerns about a range of issues with the Kirkpatrick Phase 3 project, including traffic, nature and wildlife preservation, costs, safety, resale of homes, and the necessity of the project itself.

Zooming in

The location of the Kirkpatrick Phase 3 project is on the east side of town between Garden Ridge Boulevard and Cross Timbers Road with the project scope centering on constructing the missing segment of Kirkpatrick Lane between Spanish Oak Drive and Blue Sky Lane. The project also includes trail and water line connections, according to Hotelling’s presentation.

Hotelling showed previous thoroughfare plans with Kirkpatrick, and another slide touted the many benefits to the project, such as how it can improve some north-south traffic flow through town, improve east-west traffic flow to and from I-35E and Business 121, and improve emergency response to the east side of Flower Mound.

Additionally, the project would require no debt or general fund money to design or build. Funding—$8.7 million—would come from Denton County bond elections. Impact fees could be used for the project. There’s about $5.5 million remaining in impact fees, said Brian Waltenburg, assistant director of engineering for the town. Impact fees are charged to developers to cover the proportional cost of new infrastructure needed to serve the development, Waltenburg said in an email.

The action taken

Childers said the town staff will look at the matter and issues discussed by council, potentially holding a work session in the future, and that would occur before anything is appropriated in the next budget or put in the capital improvement plan.