McKinney Homeowners Organize Opposition To 380 Bypass
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McKINNEY (CBS11) - It's an inevitable side effect of Collin County's explosive growth: traffic.
Now a growing number of McKinney homeowners say the city's plans to try to lighten some of that traffic along U.S. 380 threaten their way of life.
Even with three lanes in each direction, 380 gets a lot of congestion as drivers approach U.S. 75, and that congestion backs up long before you get to that point. But what the city is considering recommending to TxDOT to try to solve the problem is increasingly unpopular.
The tranquil setting of the Walnut Grove community is what made Joan and Robert Matlock decide to build their home there. Now as Collin County grows, the last thing they want is a bypass diverting traffic from nearby U.S. 380 into their neighborhood.
"To have another major highway going right through the middle of your home, nobody would want to live here," Joan Matlock said.
But city leaders say they have to do something as growth brings more traffic. A McKinney spokesperson tells us after the county identified the need for additional highways, TxDOT identified US-380 as a candidate for expansion into a major highway.
To prevent disrupting properties along 380, the city proposed as an alternate solution three versions of a bypass, all of which Robert Carter says would ruin his waterfront home and surrounding community.
"What's at stake for me is a way of life that I've enjoyed since March of 1988," Carter said.
Hundreds of people have signed an online petition opposing the bypass, and a group of homeowners wearing red shirts in solidarity addressed the city council to speak out against the proposal.
"This is simply a proposal that's on the table, and we want to take it off the table before it's seriously considered," Robert Matlock said.
The city stresses that the ultimate decision will be up to TxDOT, and McKinney is only considering what it will recommend to TxDOT. A city spokesperson says public input will be considered before deciding on a recommendation.