84% of Dallas Stars open house participants list traffic as a concern

Residents in Plano are most concerned with traffic impacts that could come with a new arena in the city, according to survey results.

Plano City Council saw a presentation of the results from an open house event survey for the proposed Dallas Stars arena at a meeting Aug. 10.

The overview

Director of Planning Christina Day said the open houses hosted in July were a start for a formal conversation with the community about the proposed arena.

84% of all respondents said they were most interested in how traffic would be impacted by the arena. Other concerns in the majority included impact to quality of life and parking concerns.

Day said some feedback included concerns about congestion, requests for more ramps on the Dallas North Tollway and ways to mitigate cut-through in neighborhoods. For parking, respondents discussed resident-only parking permits and keeping event parking at structured garages free or affordable.

Some respondents also expressed concerns over public safety, Day said, as well as noise or lighting levels.

“There was a good level of trust, especially as people heard about the city’s regulations, that an enclosed arena combined with existing standards could be able to manage the noise,” Day said. “Similar with lighting.”

Day said the survey showed a mix of support and opposition for the project with requests for continued public engagement and inquiries about the arena’s financing.

Dig deeper

The city received 861 responses to a survey provided to open house participants, according to the city presentation. 63% of respondents provided at least one comment in the survey.

80% of all respondents live in Plano, according to survey data. More than half of all respondents lived within the same zip code as where the proposed arena will be. Day said the remaining respondents came from surrounding cities like Frisco, Richardson and Allen.

Most survey respondents were more than 35 years old, Day said. More than half were over 55 years old.

“The response we got was fairly representative of the predominant census tracts that were representing the zip codes,” Day said.

Looking ahead

Deputy City Manager Doug McDonald said the city’s traffic study is planned to start soon now that schools are back in session. He said the city is also working to put together studies for real estate and market data to better understand demand and impact on property values.

“We’re trying to move as diligently as possible and make sure that the public is brought along with us as much as possible,” McDonald said. “This next year is going to be kind of a critical year for us to get things in place for that to happen.”

McDonald said initial traffic impact results and citizen feedback will be coming in the next few weeks. Plano City Council plans to discuss a citizen advisory committee with representatives from local homeowners associations, or HOAs, at their next meeting Aug. 24 per previous reporting.