Speaker 1: 0:00

I don't know about you, but when my teenagers started driving, I was a nervous wreck. So many things that could go wrong and God forbid they get into an accident. Sure, we have car insurance, but for some young drivers the monthly insurance can be higher than the car payment. That's why we're excited to announce that State Farm is lowering their car insurance rates. And you should call our good friend Kathy L Wall with State Farm on Lovers Lane in Dallas. You see, kathy and her team don't just sell car insurance, they sell peace of mind. So if an accident happens, they're actively working on your claim so you can put that accident behind you. And, best of all, kathy will personally talk with your teen driver with some straight talk that will help them appreciate the driving privilege you have provided them. So if you're tired of high rates for auto insurance, please call our good friend Kathy Elwall, state Farm at 214-350-2692 or visit her website at kathylwallcom and let her know.

Speaker 1: 0:59

The Bubble Lounge sent you. Welcome to the Bubble Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson. I'm sure a lot of you have noticed that construction has started back at Snyder Plaza. I know you have a lot of questions, so I invited Katie Barron, Director of Engineering with the City of University Park to join me again today. Katie, thank you so much for being here today.

Speaker 2: 1:25

Thank you so much for having me, Martha. I'm thrilled to be back.

Speaker 1: 1:28

Well, we want to get an update on what's going on at Snyder Plaza. I've been seeing some discussions online about it and people seem to have quite a few questions. Let's talk about big picture. What are we doing there? What's the ultimate goal?

Speaker 2: 1:41

The ultimate goal is to make Snyder Plaza a place where everybody wants to come. That is wonderful to walk around, in that you want to visit, that you want to spend money, in that you want to hang out in and really make this a signature piece for the City of University Park as we enter into our next hundred years.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Well, what do you think the benefit to the community will be once it's done?

Speaker 2: 2:06

Well, twofold, the first being the infrastructure will be just lovely and be able to provide future places, as I mentioned, future places for your children to come Right to come, and the overall quality of life in University Park. Snyder Plaza is such a the heartbeat of the city and our downtown effectively, and giving it a facelift at this juncture was just the timing was great and we've needed to do something with the infrastructure for quite some time, and this project provides the opportunity for us to not just replace it, you know, replace the bricks and mortar and concrete and sidewalk, but to really make it a place where people want to be and that the community can be proud of.

Speaker 1: 2:56

Yeah Well, I always say that it's the town square of University.

Speaker 2: 2:59

Park.

Speaker 1: 3:00

And I have so many fond memories of taking my kids there. I'm in walking distance and like when my kids are really little, taking them in the stroller and just going on a pretty day and just go store to store to store and just you know, it really is the hub of our city, in my opinion. It feels like it's going kind of fast, so that's a good thing.

Speaker 2: 3:22

Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 1: 3:23

But can you tell us what is going on at Phase 4? Because there is a significant part of it that is not accessible right now.

Speaker 2: 3:32

Yes, ma'am. So Phase 4 is the section of Snyder Plaza between Milton and Rankin. Right now we have Rankin closed at the intersection for some storm drain improvements so that's created a little bit of a bottleneck there between Rankin and Westminster If you come down to go to East Hampton and you can't get out the other way if you're coming from Lever's Lane. So the primary piece of that we're hoping that we can get Rankin back up so we can get some through traffic through there. I know it creates a bottleneck at certain times of the day and people trying to figure out where they need to go. It's gotten a lot better. It was easier over the holidays because not everybody was there, but now that everybody's back to their business as usual, now that school's back in and kind of regular everyday routines, we've received a few more phone calls of like where am I supposed to go and what do I need to do with this?

Speaker 2: 4:21

So the roadway itself is closed but the sidewalks are open. So if you need to visit a business in that 6800 block between Milton and Rankin, if you want to have lunch at Penn and Pomodoro, you still absolutely can. Everybody is open and the sidewalks are open. You just can't park right in front, so you need to park on one side or the other. And of course the whole rest of the plaza is open and the parking garage at Hilltop Plaza is open, so there's plenty of opportunities for you to still get there. You just may have to walk a little bit further. We had similar issues when we were doing the 6600 block down by Kuby's between Daniel and Rosedale, when that was closed. But I think we found that the sidewalk traffic was normal and everybody kind of got used to the new routine of I need to go pick up some deli meat at Kubi's, but I'm going to park over here and walk down the street.

Speaker 1: 5:15

Right, right. Well, I think it is going to take some getting used to, because CBS is such a hot spot, I know that I go there quite frequently, many times a week, and so that one we're going to have to just, you know, get used to a different entry point and a different area to park in, but I think we can do it.

Speaker 1: 5:32

I was there yesterday, both during the day, and then I went back again last night and I went to a restaurant that's in the area that's affected, and you're right, I mean, it's just, you know, changing our mindset and those sidewalks are completely open. We can access all these businesses and we definitely need to get out there and support them. We don't want them to suffer because it's not easy to park.

Speaker 2: 5:53

Yes, ma'am, and we met with the tenants yesterday morning actually for some updates for the construction pieces and to hear some feedback from them. We're working on some additional signage, encouraging the merchants to have some you're welcome to put some of their own signs up and there's some different things just informing that particular block of what seemed to work with the other block that we just finished down by Hilltop Plaza, and informing the public and getting some signs up and those kinds of things. We were waiting until we got through this first phase and that winter weather that we had. We'd actually had some signs up and they blew over, so we're having to replace some of those things. But we're working through some of that and we're open to suggestions with some of those things and if anybody has some suggestions, that is listening to this, yeah great.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Well, I know that a lot of us have concerns about the trees that have been removed. You know we love our trees in University Park and it's a big thing that makes our community special, and I just wanted to know what was the thought process behind removing the trees. Why couldn't you keep them where they were?

Speaker 2: 6:55

Yeah, the primary reason is the changes that we needed to make to the roadway and where the curb and sidewalk pieces are in relation to the drive aisles was not going to match where the existing trees were to make sure that we have brought the parking spaces up to compliance. If you'll notice, on that block between Daniel and Rosedale the drive aisle is wider than it is in the other parts of the plaza. That's for police and fire to be able to get down. Accessibility was one of the bigger problems, so needing to relocate and rethink where we needed to have greenery with that and rethink where we needed to have greenery with that. But that means that that gave us an opportunity to really think bigger picture about where was a good spot to have additional, more trees than we have now, while maintaining the character of the plaza.

Speaker 1: 7:57

Well, what is the plan to replace them and why haven't you been replacing them as you're making the improvements.

Speaker 2: 8:03

So that's an excellent question. It's one I get a lot. Actually, the plan we're removing 20-odd trees, something like that, from the plaza all the way down. We're replacing it with 70 trees. We will be planting 70 trees, 12 to 16 of which are what we consider mature trees. I realized that the trees that we took down are 20 plus years old. They were not necessarily species as well that are conducive to more urban and paved environment. So not only are we going to be planting new trees, they are species that are a little bit more in line with that more urban environment in a parking area situation. But the mature trees we've got there's two that we're we planted right now to let the community kind of see what we were doing and and it was more important to get those in when we were doing the rest of the infrastructure, and we're going to be doing that all the way up. They're 30 foot tall and that's considered a mature tree in an urban environment. They're called sky climber live oaks and they're very conducive to this area.

Speaker 2: 9:16

But to answer the other part of your question, landscaping does better when it's all put in at one time. So, rather than putting and swallowing the trees and the rest question. Landscaping does better when it's all put in at one time. So rather than going putting and sawing the trees and the rest of the landscaping while we're going down, that would mean that the trees that we put in this past fall right in front of Kubi's and Mr Tuxedo are going to be a year older than the ones right next door. If we did the landscaping while we were doing the infrastructure, rest assured, we want everything to look uniform. That's the other goal of this project, and we will be having a separate landscape contract at the end so that none of the plants are damaged but they're also all the same age and are put in by a certified landscape contractor, and it will all be put in at the end of the project when we're done with all that heavy construction.

Speaker 1: 10:08

Oh, ok, so if you would have planted early on, they'd get a whole year jumpstart on the other ones and they'd be significantly taller. So, yeah, that sounds like a really smart idea, just to have them all uniform at the same time. Yes, ma'am. Well, I know that you said that you've gotten a lot of questions. How are you handling when the community reaches out to you with questions or concerns or complaints?

Speaker 2: 10:31

We several ways. I prefer to have some in-person conversations with folks and sometimes that's hard given our very technology savvy community and everybody will send an email or we'll get text messages or we'll get messages through social media et cetera. We try really hard to answer most of those and I try very hard to reach out to people in person. But the vast majority of information we consistently try to point people back to our website. Everything about the project, everything you ever wanted to know about the project, is on the city's website, uptexasorg slash Schneider Plaza. You can sign up for email updates. We send those out twice every other week, every two weeks. It's just an update with where we are and information, and our communications team at City Hall is excellent with putting out little videos about Snyder Plaza and where you need to park, how you can get to XYZ place. Paige and Abby do a great job of providing information on social media Instagram and Facebook that we've gotten some good feedback from people.

Speaker 2: 11:50

I think a lot of the complaints have kind of tapered off, quite honestly, because I think people have seen now what we are doing and the intent and we get more compliments than complaints, which is really nice. The complaints most of the time. It's better to once people have the information that they need. They have a question. It's not necessarily a complaint, it's a question about why we were doing something the way that we were doing it. Once they have an answer, oh okay, for the most part that's how it goes.

Speaker 1: 12:17

I feel like you all have been extremely transparent and there's so much information to read on the website and also, like you said, on social media. Be sure, and follow them. What's?

Speaker 2: 12:28

your handle. You can follow us on Instagram at cityofuptx I'll put it in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 12:34

Be sure, and follow them on Instagram, because there's a recent video that's talking about Phase 4 and just letting you know what's going on and where to park, and I just think it always helps to visually see something so you can kind of picture, before you get there, what's going on and what you need to do. I want to share an experience we had with SA Oral Surgeons, because it made such a difference for us. Last holiday break, my daughter, who's in college, needed her wisdom teeth out, so we booked with SA Oral Surgeons. From the very start I felt like we were in the best hands possible. I can't say enough about how comforting it was to know that they don't use opioids. It really put my mind at ease. Walking into the office, it felt so warm and welcoming. The staff was fantastic so kind, patient and reassuring. They just have this way of making you feel like you're at home, which was such a relief for both of us. Watching my daughter go through the procedure without worry and seeing how smoothly everything went, it was just a huge weight lifted.

Speaker 1: 13:29

Dr Stewart and Dr Arango have such an impressive reputation and it's clear why they're best in Big D winners. They offer a full range of services from both kids and adults, and they're right here in the neighborhood, located at Northwest Highway and Hillcrest Avenue. If you're looking for top-notch care and skilled hands, you can trust. I really recommend Essay Oral Surgeons. Just head to EssaySurgeonscom to learn more or book an appointment. That's EssaySurgeonscom. It made all the difference for us. So with any construction project, there's always unforeseen things that come up. Have you guys had any challenges that you weren't expecting?

Speaker 2: 14:09

The amount of rock that's underneath the ground. Funny enough, it is right there. We take the pavement out and oh look, that's not dirt, that's limestone, which is why SMU is the college on the hill. It's the top of the hill and it's got really great infrastructure underneath, which is great from an infrastructure perspective. But it is a little surprising when you go to dig through dirt and it's not dirt, it's rock. But for the most part it means great things for our infrastructure to maintain itself longer.

Speaker 2: 14:44

Oftentimes the soil underneath we have horrible soil, as I'm sure everybody knows. That clay soil is just awful for us in the DFW area and it can wreak havoc on your infrastructure. But that's been kind of a surprise. That's been kind of a surprise. Syb as our contractor and they have just done a fabulous job of keeping everybody informed and the businesses open and access for things. I'm not surprised by that because they're the best contractor I've ever worked with and they are very accommodating. They work all over town for us. They also do our alley projects as well. But that's been a surprise, I think, for Anna. I get so many compliments from them, from the merchants, from the public at large. We ask them to do something and they just take care of it and that's very important for city staff to make sure that our residents are heard and accommodated as best we can. I mean, there's just some things we can't do, but for the most part we can it's going very well.

Speaker 1: 15:43

Yeah, well, it definitely sounds like you picked the best. I'm sure you looked at a lot of different options. Yes, ma'am, well, so phase four should be completed kind of mid-March around there sometime. What happens after that?

Speaker 2: 15:55

We will roll immediately into phase five, which is the section of Milton including the fountain, which is very exciting. Milton will be closed from Hillcrest to Snyder Plaza and that is to really construct the big fountain. So the fountain vaults is actually part of this phase four contract. The guts of a fountain all happen not at the fountain, they're actually next to the fountain and we put it up underneath some of the parking spaces there on the north side of Milton and it's a huge vault that has all the pump work and all that where we cycle all the water through and all the electrical stuff that's actually going in on this phase. So the end of this month there'll be a crane in Snyder Plaza. If you have small children and want to bring them to look at the big crane, crane in Snyder Plaza, if you have small children and want to bring them to look at the big crane, it'll be quite the sight to lift this thing off and into the ground.

Speaker 2: 16:50

But for phase five that will be the signature piece of the plaza I think is the fountain and that was one of the things that we heard the most feedback from people when we were talking about this project and the council themselves about what the fountain was going to look like, this project and the council themselves about what the fountain was going to look like, how that was going to be. And it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be cut stone, cast stone, excuse me, cast bold. It's going to look very familiar to everybody. It's going to have that same kind of pedestal look but nice, pretty tile around it. It's going to be great and that's the main thing that's happening in phase five.

Speaker 1: 17:26

Oh, that sounds exciting. Are you going to have like a unveiling of it?

Speaker 2: 17:36

We probably will. That's TBD for your listeners. The city council has discussed that. It's also one of those we have to, kind of, you can watch the whole thing. I mean, anybody can go sit there and watch the construction all day long. But they have to test it and make sure it all works. So we've talked about a ribbon cutting. I'm not sure when, what we would do with that or when we would do it, but I think that's in the works. Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 1: 17:51

I definitely think there needs to be like a big celebration when it's all done, because everyone's going to be excited the merchants, the community, everyone and it's a good excuse to bring us all together. That's right. Well, I love that, that idea of bringing your kids down to watch, because when my kids were little they loved cranes and bulldozers and you know anything. Construction is very fascinating to watch.

Speaker 2: 18:10

Oh yeah, we had when we were working there in the 6600 block there was right next to Benchmark. There would be a family that they walked over with their small children with a stroller at least once a week. For and I have two boys and when they were little they loved to look at the big diggers and concrete trucks and stuff and I think it's just great. It's still a draw for the community to bring your family to Snyder Plaza, even the young kids. And we've had a couple of opportunities and events for the public to come see. We had a donut day, we had a cookie day. The donut day was popular because we had a fire truck out there and everybody likes to come touch the fire truck and get inside it.

Speaker 2: 18:53

They have cool things in the fire department. I have concrete trucks. That doesn't seem as much fun, but we will continue to do that through the spring Once we get out of this kind of colder weather. The goal is to have another one of those types of events to let people encourage people to come down to the plaza see what we're doing. If you haven't been in a while, that's a great opportunity for you, so be on the lookout for that too, probably in March around spring break time.

Speaker 1: 19:15

Well, what is the expected completion date?

Speaker 2: 19:19

Right now we are shooting for the fall of this year so that we can roll into that landscape contract, the fall of this year so that we can roll into that landscape contract. Um, and the phase six, which is the section between Rosedale and Milton, will be last. Uh, and we're anticipating starting that this summer. Um, as soon as we're done with phase five, we're rolling right into phase six. Um, and that completion date is sometime in October. Um, so we can roll right into the landscaping and the landscape part will not be nearly as intrusive. Sometime in October. So we can roll right into the landscaping. The landscape part will not be nearly as intrusive as the other. So the goal is to only impact one holiday season and we already did that. So the goal is to be done before we get into the next shopping season for the plaza.

Speaker 1: 20:00

Well good, it sounds like you're on track to have it all ready for the tree lighting.

Speaker 2: 20:04

Yes, ma'am, sounds like you're on track to have it all ready for the tree lighting. Yes, ma'am, the tree lighting was also a topic that continues to come up from some of the residents around there and the public, and I will just say that is TBD on that. The Parks Department is working through what this new plaza will look like and what they want to do. We had really good feedback for the tree lighting in Centennial Park and the big live tree, and we had lots of excellent feedback about that too, so I think they're still in the works with some of that. I don't have a lot of details about that, but stay tuned.

Speaker 1: 20:38

Yeah, I wanted to give a huge shout out to everybody at the City of UP because that was amazing the tree lighting. We went to it at the park and the gazebo and that tree was amazing and I don't know, I kind of liked it better over there.

Speaker 2: 20:53

We had some really good feedback. I think the decorations in Snyder Plaza will continue where we have the event or if there's a combined event. It's all kind of up in the air right now and any and all decisions so, but I'm glad to hear that you really enjoyed it. That's pretty much the feedback we got from everybody.

Speaker 1: 21:14

I really did. I shared a video on our Instagram if anyone wants to take a look at it and if you weren't able to go. But it really it was very special and I mean the turnout was amazing.

Speaker 2: 21:24

Yes, we were thrilled with the turnout. So, and the weather was great, so it was. It was a really nice event. Yes, it was amazing.

Speaker 1: 21:31

Well, I'm feeling really good about Snyder Plaza. It feels like you guys have everything under control. Everything's moving along smoothly, thanks, but there's some other areas in town that I want to ask you about. Yes, ma'am, so down on Lovers Lane, the area that they call the Miracle Mile, tell us what's going to happen there?

Speaker 2: 21:48

Excellent question, and I'm sure that this is going to get some excellent responses back. So the city has planned to reconstruct Lover's Lane between the Dallas North Tollway and Douglas, back to the east. So right where the corner of Scotland Yard is, that's the Douglas intersection, that is that funky corner that is. It's just not lined up the right way, is it? No, ma'am, it's not. We're going to fix that.

Speaker 2: 22:21

Some cost-sharing opportunities to take advantage of their program that they have to help cities, help them fund some of their infrastructure improvements, specifically as it relates to mobility and moving people through Dallas County, if you can picture that. And we definitely have several roadways that everybody likes to use Preston and Hillcrest and Lever, specifically our main arterials. This is the first project that we submitted and we got approval for 50% funding, which is huge. This is about a $10 million job, oh wow. And Dallas County, they will help us pay for roadway improvements and sidewalk and curb and gutter and those kinds of things. But right when we were getting that going, covid happened and so we all, kind of Dallas County, had to put the brakes on a couple of things from a funding perspective, and we did as well. So we're actually starting this project this year. So Dallas County funds are available starting in fiscal year 25, which we are in now. So I'll be.

Speaker 2: 23:20

This project is finishing up its design. We are replacing the roadway, we are keeping Lovers Lane two lanes, so don't anybody freak out about that and the parking situation is staying the same. It's going to be the same configuration, but there are a couple of changes. We are altering the traffic signal at Armstrong. When you are at the vet or you're trying to go to Firestone, so that crazy intersection where there's this traffic signal inside the parking area and as well as on Lovers Lane and you're not really sure where you're supposed to go.

Speaker 1: 23:53

Never known how to navigate that thing. Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 2: 23:56

So we're closing off the north side so you cannot go through. We're reconfiguring that intersection where, if you're going north on Armstrong, you cannot go straight to go into Firestone. You have to turn onto Armstrong and then you can enter the parking lot where it is right now. Honestly, but that actually has we are increasing the number of parking spaces in the Miracle Mile, which is always a big thing in this community and really around the area. Parking is a problem. So by closing that off, we're able to capture a couple more parking spaces with that. So by closing that off, we're able to capture a couple more parking spaces. With that, we're adding some new lighting as well and a little bit of landscaping. There's not a whole lot of opportunities, like there have been in Snyder Plaza, for us to do that.

Speaker 2: 24:38

We had a series of public meetings back in 2018 with this whole area about what the community wanted the Miracle Mile to be, and we had some great feedback and it pretty much settled. The council chose an option that left it pretty much the same, with some added benefits. One of those other benefits is that the city purchased the corner lot at Lovers and Douglas on the northeast side. There's a big green space right there. We've used it for construction staging. We're going to realign Douglas at Lovers Lane to where it is squared up in the intersection and you have, if you're southbound on Douglas, you have a dedicated left turn lane instead of just holding up all the traffic behind you. It's going to be a huge improvement from a safety perspective. That's one of the biggest intersections that we have traffic accidents at that our PD has to, our emergency services has to respond to, so really making that intersection much safer.

Speaker 2: 25:33

The school district is thrilled with this. I've been working with them, kind of letting them know what's going to happen with this construction project. But the goal is to start construction of this later this spring. So we're just at. Snyder Plaza has been on everybody's mind so much that we've kind of this one's coming and we're going to the construction will be roughly the same style that we're doing for Snyder Plaza, so phasing it in where it's not all closed at once. We have a block closed but the sidewalks are open, so you can still get to the businesses, you can still go pick up your dry cleaning, you can still go and run and get a donut, but then you just have to park down the street and walk down and come back. So that project will be about 18 months as well. So we're aiming to start at this spring again, so we're only impacting one holiday season and then finish it up in the fall of 26.

Speaker 1: 26:24

Now will that vacant lot be completely spoken for? Because I saw somebody suggest that we should make it into a dog park.

Speaker 2: 26:32

So it will be some sort of green space that is. Also. I've been working with the Parks and Recreation director about what that corner could be. One of the things we heard back from those public meetings we had was making this really an entryway to University Park. When you're coming from the West, when you're coming from Dallas, this is the first shot you see of University Park and sometimes that's not. The infrastructure has leaves you wanting more and this could be much better, given the shops that are there and what we could do better from a public works perspective.

Speaker 2: 27:03

So there's potential for us to have some sort of green space area a fountain maybe we've talked about, maybe some sort of public art, but a dog park would be an option. We're working with a consulting firm to look at some ideas and present those to council for what could be at that space. But it will remain. It will not be parking. It will be some sort of green space, kind of on both sides of the street, so they mirror each other on both sides of Douglas. So they're next to the bank where we're realigning. We've gained a little bit of space, so we have kind of both sides.

Speaker 1: 27:38

Well, there you have it, you heard it first. On the bubble lounge Well, I'm excited. On the bubble lounge Well, I'm excited. I mean that sounds like really really great improvements.

Speaker 2: 27:51

I can't wait for it to be done. Yes, ma'am, and kudos to the council and the mayor and previous councils as well, for having the foresight to recognize that we need to do something with this and the support for staff to be able. It's not easy, because I say all the time, construction is messy and inconvenient and loud and dirty and nobody likes it, but the end goal is to have a beautiful place for us to be and for the residents to enjoy, right?

Speaker 1: 28:14

Well, we just need to keep our eye on the end product and just be patient. Yes, Well, katie, thank you so much. This has been such a great wealth of knowledge here, and I just know that a lot of people are going to love hearing this information.

Speaker 2: 28:27

You're most welcome Anytime. I've had a wonderful time, Martha. Thanks.

Speaker 1: 28:30

And can you tell us one last time how we can get updates?

Speaker 2: 28:33

The city's website is the best place to get information. You can subscribe to updates for our email server you can have. That's where you can get links to all of our Instagram and Facebook pages. Uptexasorg. You can find a link for Snyder Plaza there, but we'll also have a page for the Miracle Mile coming up as well.

Speaker 1: 28:53

Perfect, well as always, I will include links so you don't have to remember this. That's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson and I'll see you next time.