Dear Editor,
I live at 200 Border Street, 2 blocks northwest of downtown Forney. We were told by a neighbor 3 weeks ago that 2 of the options under Proposition E of the upcoming Forney City Council bond referendum could level our house or severely impact our property and our neighborhood if they go through with the Pinson Road extension.
My husband, Brad, and our son, Jody, moved to Forney 23 years ago for this house. We wanted to live in a historic home in a small town. Brad and I are now 14 months from retirement and this is where we had planned to retire. We paid off the house a year ago, which was a major milestone for us. This house was built in 1909, making it 113 years old and the architecture is called a Texas pyramid. We have put a lot of sweat equity as well as money into this property and planned to do more.
Ours is not the only house which will be adversely affected by 2 of the 3 plans currently being considered. Either of the Pinson Road extension plans will negatively impact a historic, established and unique neighborhood as well as the downtown area itself.
We were never officially notified of the City’s plans and we are still in shock over this. For a City Council that prides itself on transparency, I am appalled at how this was handled. I can’t believe that no public input was requested on these matters.
Aside from the fact that I don’t want to lose my house or see this neighborhood effectively destroyed, I just don’t see that the placement of a bridge over the railroad tracks as an extension of Pinson Road is going to do anything to alleviate traffic problems in Forney. Both of the Pinson Road extension options will dump a tremendous amount of traffic into a residential neighborhood which will then pour into intersections on Bois d’arc, where it is already extremely hard to make a turn or cross.
The biggest traffic flow problems are at 548 (where a bridge should have been built) and at 460 (Travis Ranch traffic). That’s where the biggest problems are and those are locations where a bridge should be considered. If a bridge is built at 460, it could be part of an outer loop which is already needed, especially with the new warehouses currently under construction at Highway 80 and 460. I sincerely hope that Proposition E doesn’t pass because I believe it gives the Forney City Council carte blanc to get rid of some of the things which make Forney unique. The safety and serenity of this downtown area will be ruined and I believe it will create more traffic headaches in a historic downtown which needs to be preserved.
Sincerely, Kathy Stephens
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