Controversial Bridge Proposal Won't Be Part of Grapevine Bond Projects

GRAPEVINE -- It took a couple of months of wrangling but only minutes to decide Thursday as the Grapevine City Council removed a controversial bridge project from a list of bond projects that could go before voters in November.A crowd of about 100 reacted with quiet applause when the motion from council member Chris Coy passed without dissent. The project, which until Thursday night had been a part of the city's master thoroughfare plan for about 30 years, would have created a traffic bridge through a heavily wooded area popular with residents who live near it.The bridge, as planned, would have been built about 80 feet from the closest homes in neighborhood in an attempt to improve police and fire response times and traffic routes to nearby schools.The council voted unanimously to remove the $8.1 million proposal not just from the list of bond projects, but from the city's master thoroughfare plan completely."This is the second time I've been through this, and when you see public sentiment running 10-to-1 against, you better listen," said City Council member Sharron Spencer, who was part of a contentious public hearing on the project about 15 years ago.  Continue reading...