Deck Park Talks Reach Public Feedback Phase in McKinney

The city of McKinney is exploring an ambitious new project.

It’s looking at three ways to make it safer for pedestrians to cross Texas Highway 5 between Louisiana and Virginia streets, connecting historic downtown McKinney with legacy neighborhoods east of Highway 5.

Tuesday night, dozens of McKinney residents provided feedback during a public input meeting held at the McKinney Performing Arts Center.

“Our council, our mayor wants to truly do something bold, something truly unique to McKinney that really knits these two parts of the city back together,” said Assistant City Manager Kim Flom.

Options under consideration include:

1.    Deck Park – State Highway 5 will be lowered below ground to allow a deck park corridor to be built overhead between Virginia and Louisiana streets. The highway would essentially become a tunnel underground, with the park at grade above the road.

Kimley-Horn

2.    Inverted Deck Park – A park corridor would be constructed under Texas 5. between Virginia and Louisiana streets. The highway would be at level but terraces would be built down toward a plaza below for pedestrians, complete with decorative lighting, artwork, and green space.

Kimley-Horn

3.    Improvements to the Existing Crossing – Minimal enhancements to the existing state highway crossings at Virginia and Louisiana streets with wider sidewalks, but no parks would be created. This would be the minimum type of project, Flom said.

Kimley-Horn

The public feedback that is being gathered currently will be presented to the city council this fall. Paying for the projects, Flom added, could come from grants and private funding.

“All three projects are viable and absolutely there are technical differences, there are budget differences, there's coordination differences,” Flom said.

The city said it will work with TxDOT to determine how the improvements may impact planned roadway improvements in the area. 

Opinions of which option is best varied among McKinney residents.

Cynthia and Steve Vanlandingham feel McKinney would benefit most from option one, the deck park, which is most similar to Klyde Warren Park in Downtown Dallas.

“Seeing that success leads me to think that this version or this option should do the same,” said Vanlandingham.

Others, like Nina Dowell Ringley, feel option three, improvements to the existing crossing, maintain the area’s historic appeal.

“The rest just doesn't have the historic feel for me and this is the historic district,” Ringley said.

You can still submit feedback online at this link if you couldn't make it to Tuesday’s meeting.