As previously reported by Local Profile, the TxDOT’s plans for a new freeway to alleviate traffic along Highway 380 from Prosper to McKinney raised concerns among community members who might be forced to move if the bypass is approved.
According to the WFAA, the TxDOT’s preferred route, called the “blue alternative,” would span 16 miles that would affect more than 20 homeowners and 35 businesses who would be forced to move. While the bypass plan is not finalized yet, some residents have hired attorneys in anticipation of an official notice about the state procuring their properties.
The O'Neals, a couple of retired teachers who have lived along County Road 338 for five generations, told WFAA that the TxDOT’s plans are not fit to the terrain. “They've looked at this on a map," O'Neal said. "[But] they haven't been out here. They haven't seen these beaver dams, these beaver ponds. They haven't seen the deer."
The TxDOT on its part predicts the congestion on U.S. Highway 380 will only get worse in the near future. According to their predictions, if nothing is done it will take two hours to drive eight miles by 2050.
"Something needs to be done to meet today's traffic demands and the future's traffic demands," Madison Schein of TxDOT told WFAA. "We took what [residents] said, we looked it over, we studied it to see how we can improve, and this is what we came up with."
While residents are worried about the proposal’s approval and the eminent domain that would follow, the project is not finalized yet and the final decision by the TxDOT will be made after the public meetings.
The first in-person and virtual meeting was held on Feb. 16, at the Collin County Courthouse Central Jury Room, located at 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney and a second meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 in the gymnasium of Rhea’s Mill Baptist Church, located at 5733 N. Custer Road in McKinney.
