Photo courtesy of Greenway Investments/Leland Burke.
District 13 Council Member Gay Donnell Willis is requesting a delay in the City Council vote on the Preston Royal development, citing traffic concerns.
According to her Oct. 9 District 13 newsletter, Willis is asking the council to postpone the vote from Oct. 14 to Nov. 10.
“Traffic is the number one concern I’ve heard since the zoning application was filed for the 7-acre parcel at Preston Road and Royal Lane,” Willis said in her newsletter. “While the property is currently a vacant concrete slab following the demolition of medical office buildings damaged in the 2019 tornado, any future development will naturally generate more traffic than the site does today.”
In her letter, Willis said engineers with Kimley-Horn conducted a study that found the surrounding shopping center already generates more than 30,000 one-way retail visits per day across the three developed quadrants.
Willis said she has asked for traffic improvements beyond the Preston Road and Royal Lane intersection.
“Because of these issues, I have asked that traffic improvements extend beyond the Preston and Royal intersection to include signal coordination and flow improvements farther east and west along Royal Lane,” she said.
According to Willis, the developer has expressed interest in funding the improvements.
Willis also encouraged residents to speak about the zoning case at a City Council meeting.
