Report from the Lawrence/Spring Branch meeting

District A Council Member Toni Lawrence held her town hall meeting on Thursday to discuss plans to widen Bunker Hill Road north of I-10, and it appears she's pledging to keep an open mind.

Residents who live in Spring Branch neighborhoods bordering a small stretch of Bunker Hill Road north of Interstate 10 told Houston city officials Thursday that they do not want the road widened north of Briar Branch Creek.

Two equally vocal groups of residents said they objected to two proposals in the three-pronged project: the widening of two-lane Bunker Hill Road from Briar Branch Creek through residential neighborhoods and next to Spring Branch Independent School District's Woodview Elementary School north to Long Point Road; and the taking of 20 feet of property on the north side of Long Point Road in order to enlarge the Bunker Hill/Long Point Road intersection.

A third component of the project - the widening of two-lane Bunker Hill Road from Interstate 10 to Briar Branch Creek - did not receive a thumbs up or down because, residents said, it runs through a commercial area and was not a primary cause for concern.

District A Houston City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence, who hosted the public hearing along with the Spring Branch West Super Neighborhood and Memorial City Redevelopment Authority/Tax Increment Redevelopment Zone, said no plans were drawn and all options were on the table for consideration.

"This is your neighborhood," said Lawrence. "We are here to listen to you and see what you want."

As long as you're not an SBISD trustee (PDF), anyway. Regardless, the community sentiment seems pretty clear to me.

Residents said a three- or four-lane road through their neighborhood would divide the community and prove unsafe for school children and residents walking across Bunker Hill Road.

"How about another option - keeping it the way it is?" said Don Hernandez, a Long Point Woods resident. "If you build a four-lane road through this area it will be the biggest waste of taxpayers' money. It will be a road to nowhere."

Spring Branch Woods resident Michelle Loret asked Lawrence and city officials to look at the residential area separately from the commercial area.

"There is a big difference in traffic north and south of Briar Branch Creek," said Loret. "You can put 20 lanes (from I-10) to the bridge and we could give a hoot."

Lawrence said there would be separate traffic counts conducted north and south of the bridge at Briar Branch Creek.

Why the sudden focus on Bunker Hill Road? asked Spring Woods resident Sue Asch.

"On Westview the road narrows to two lanes through the residential sections," said Asch. "Why are not we being respected in the same way?"

For sure, widening the portion of Bunker Hill just north of I-10 makes all kinds of sense. There's nothing there but an exit from the big Costco parking lot, which is a huge hassle now, as it generates too much traffic for that little two-lane road to handle. Widen it to two lanes each way, with a left turn lane from the southbound portion, and put in a traffic light if need be. Beyond that, I'm perfectly happy to leave it as is. If there's anything up there other than residential neighborhoods, I'm not aware of it.

Other perspectives on the meeting come from CTC member Ed Browne (scroll down a bit), and reader Anne Weedman, who sent me the following report via email:

The President of the Spring Branch West Superneighborhood limited area residents who wished to speak at Thursday night's Town Hall meeting to only one minute in which to register their comments. She even suppressed the comments of another Superneighborhood officer who stated that a time limit of two minutes was previously agreed upon.

Each attendee was given a copy of the letter from Councilmember Lawrence to the SBISD School Board in which she chastised them for their input regarding the proposed Bunker Hill expansion, but the school board members and attendees refrained from publicly countering Ms. Lawrence on this issue.

In their brief and strictly enforced time limit, residents were overwhelmingly opposed to the widening of Bunker Hill through their residential neighborhood. Councilmember Lawrence actively listened and discussed alternatives she is exploring.

Several weeks ago I attended the Grand Parkway hearing in north Harris County. At that meeting, residents were overwhelmingly opposed to having the Grand Parkway come through their community.

Each of these proposals is worth watching. Will the voices of affected citizens drown out the plans of developers?

Given past history, it's easy to understand why those affected citizens feel that their voices have been drowned out. Maybe this time will be the exception. Stay tuned.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 16, 2006 to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | TrackBack