A car waits in the cross-over in the 5000 block of SE Loop 286 while another vehicle waits to turn in. Businesses on the east side of the loop at that point want the cross-over closed, while some residents of the Morningside residential subdivision say that would cause the next cross-over to the south would create an unsafe situation at one of the busiest entrances/exits from Morningside. (eParisExtra.com photo by Charles Richards)
By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
The Paris City Council will consider tonight whether to ask the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to close the cross-over in the 5000 block of SE Loop 286, just south of the Towne Centre shopping center.
After lengthy discussion on Aug. 7, the city’s Traffic Commission voted 5-1 to recommend that the city council forward to TxDOT a request for closure of the cross-over.
The commission also recommended a public hearing be held to give citizens an opportunity for input on the issue.
However, according to the agenda, no public hearing is provided before the council’s discussion and vote. Anyone wishing to speak for or against the closing of the cross-over must do so in the public forum at the beginning of the council meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at 107 E. Kaufman St.
Two businesses on the east side of the loop – James Hodge Motor Co. and Cypress Home Health – complained that the cross-over is dangerous because of drivers coming onto the loop from the shopping center or from the southbound ramp from Lamar Avenue that must quickly cross two lanes of traffic on the loop in order to cross over.
Meanwhile, two residents of the Morningside residential subdivision complained to the Traffic Commission that closing the cross-over would send traffic farther south to the Dawn Drive entrance into Morningside. The additional traffic will clog that cross-over, making it more dangerous for Morningside residents to get onto the southbound loop at that point, they argued.
Residents of the subdivision indicated they would attend the council meeting and oppose closing the cross-over because of how it would adversely affect them.
The Traffic Commission was informed that over a 3-year period from June 2009 through June 2012, there were 30 accidents in the 5000 block of SE Loop 286, and 13 of them involved the cross-over in question.
Included in the council agenda packet is a letter from James Hodge Motor Co., signed by 27 individuals, that reads:
“We at James Hodge Motor Company ask that the turn around on SE Lloop286 in front of Cypress HomeCare and The Paris News ber investigated to be closed. On average, we see five wrecks a month and are very concerned about the safety of our citizens, customers and employees. Please take all necessary steps to get this problem resolved before it costs the life of a human being.”
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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