McKinney | April 2024

From the cover

Lower 5 Plaza gets $15M infusion of federal funds

Diving deeper

The current situation

according to a presentation by city sta at a December council meeting. City ocials are partnering with the Texas Department of Transportation and the North Central Texas Council of Governments for the project, according to a Dec. 12 council meeting. The construction of the bridge infrastructure will be incorporated into the reconstruction of SH 5, an initiative by TxDOT to widen and improve parts of the roadway spanning from Anna to Fairview. The design selected for the Lower 5 Plaza project will require the demolition of properties on ve parcels of land, which includes more than 10 businesses. The properties will be purchased as part of the right-of-way acquisition process. The city is expected to provide some assistance to aected businesses, but the type of support oered has not yet been determined, McKinney Communications and Media Manager Denise Lessard said in an email.

The project will serve both as a public park and a safe crossing from East McKinney into downtown, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said during an April 4 celebration for the funding award. “The point of transportation is to connect people,” Buttigieg said. “We think there will be not just economic benets, but safety benets to the type of road designs that are happening around here.” The Lower 5 Plaza initiative was rst considered in 2022, with city sta initially presenting three design options. The design style for the project was selected by McKinney City Council members in April 2023. The project includes a bridge at ground level on the existing SH 5 as well as a park that extends under the roadway and on either side of the bridge. The estimated cost to construct the project in the selected design style totaled $40 million-$45 million,

USDOT Grant Funding The funding award will be allocated to four projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Southern Gateway Park: $25M Klyde Warren Park: $20M I-30 Canyon project: $20M Lower 5 Plaza: $15M

SOURCE: NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS/COMMUNITY IMPACT

The council of governments pursued the grant funding on behalf of the various projects, NCTCOG senior program manager Karla Windsor said. “It was a great partnership between us and the city of McKinney,” Windsor said. “We helped them get a project across that maybe, if they’d applied directly, wouldn’t have been quite as successful just because of the amount of competition they would have had.” The Reconnecting Communities and Neighbor- hoods program aims to improve connectivity in communities that have seen divides due to trans- portation infrastructure. The grant program will contribute $3.3 billion to over 130 locally led projects across the country, according to a news release. “We arrived here understanding the power of community” Buttigieg said. “The good ideas were not going to all come from Washington [D.C.], but more of the funding should.” With the recent grant award, the council of governments has allocated about $29.45 million in federal funds to the project, Windsor said. “As a city, we’re the beneficiary of dollars from state and federal and regional entities, and I think that’s a big win for McKinney,” Fuller said.

Affected businesses

1 Direct Auto Insurance 2 Mac Town Smoke and Vapes 3 Terri’s Gelato Cafe 4 Metro by T-Mobile 5 Q Cleaners 6 Dallas Smoke N’ Vapes

7 Koji Sushi 8 Cricket Wireless 9 Jinyi’s Salon 10 Donuts R More 11 El Juarez Mexican Restaurant 12 Kutz N’ Fadez 13 InterMcKinney LLC

1110 9 87 654

SOURCE: CITY OF MCKINNEY, COLLIN CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICTCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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