Growth continues to drive the conversation in Plano.
Some see nearly 2,000 new apartments as a big problem.
They're worried about the impact the apartments will have on traffic that many feel is already bad.
Alan Samara lives near a mixed-use development that’s being built at Alma Drive and the President George Bush Turnpike. The development will include 1,300 new apartments that are now under construction.
Another 460 apartments are under construction at Park Boulevard and Plano Parkway, a road Samara uses often.
“This is an especially bad area,” Samara said “This street already backs up two lights every rush hour.”
He’s concerned more apartments will mean more cars on the road. He feels the growth is creating a burden for people who have called Plano home for decades.
Despite the perception that the apartments are being built to accommodate new businesses like Toyota, Liberty Mutual and JP Morgan Chase, Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere says that's not the case.
He says the development has been part of a big picture plan for the city for years.
Many of the new apartments are built around mixed-use developments which will include shops and restaurants.
He says most of the new apartments are strategically placed in locations like Legacy West and near booming downtown Plano to keep people living, working and playing in the same area.
“If we chose to not have one more apartment, one more single-family house or one more business, the traffic in our community will worsen because the traffic is moving past north of us,” LaRosoliere said.
Plano's city council will soon decide whether another 450 apartments can be built along State Highway 121.
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Opponents have continually shown up for public meetings to push back against plans for new apartments and say they'll continue to do so.
“We want it to stop,” said Samara.
