Carrollton City Council met on Tuesday, March 7 to receive an update and discuss the Dudley Branch Trail.
In 2004, the city adopted the Trail Master Plan and Dudley Branch Trail was included in that master plan. In 2013, there was a Bond Referendum that allocated funding for a portion of the funds for Dudley Branch Trail, and in 2016, the trail was included in NCTCOG funding selection.
On Dec. 12, 2019, the city held its first public meeting to get some feedback from residents, which brought up some concerns including trespassing on private drives and the excessive removal of trees. On March 25, 2021, the city held a second public meeting to address concerns that citizens had, which would include the addition of fencing with gates to prevent trespassing and a meandering trail to save trees.
“A lot of time we spent in 2022 was on designing and kind of working through real estate easement and what we need to acquire to get the trail built and designed,” said Jonathan Wheat, Director of Engineering for the City of Carrollton. “Timing is a factor for us. With the federal funds, there is a deadline of construction starting, which is August 2024.”
City staff is seeking an additional easement in order to have the trail meander to avoid trees to the extent possible as requested by adjacent residents. This would result in approximately 21 trees being saved. The city is required to acquire the additional trail easement since the trail is no longer held to 30’ trail easement.
“Overall, the trail is not being held within the original trail easement if we come in and get the additional easement, that way we can meander it,” Wheat said. “We’re also planning on putting the fencing in. The exact layout of that we are working through because there are some individual items that have been put along the backside of some of the resident’s properties. They’ve got gardens and things like that, so we are trying to avoid some of the stuff that is there while still maintaining the fencing aspect.”
The trail is also being designed so it does not impact the water levels in the area.
City council approved the resolution to take all necessary action for the acquisition of the needed property rights on a portion of property located along Dudley Branch Creek between Eisenhower Street and Rosemeade Parkway.
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Arianna Morrison is a reporter for Star Local Media, covering the communities of The Colony, Little Elm, Carrollton, Lewisville, Flower Mound and Coppell. Email her with story ideas and more at amorrison@starlocalmedia.com.
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