McKinney | October 2025

Government

BY COLBY FARR

Lower 5 Plaza plan shelved

The details

Planned pedestrian crossings McKinney City Council members are redirecting eorts to implement additional pedestrian crossings along the SH 5 corridor.

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The enhanced at-grade crossing is estimated to cost $2 million and the additional pedestrian cross- ings are estimated to cost $4 million, according to a sta presentation. City sta will coordinate with the regional transportation authorities to incorpo- rate additional improvements along SH 5.

Enhanced crossing Pedestrian crossing

McKinney ocials are moving on from the Lower 5 Plaza project after the loss of $15 million in federal funding that was conrmed in August. Instead, city ocials are redirecting eorts to additional improvements along the State Highway 5 corridor. Planned improvements include additional pedestrian crossings along the corridor and an enhanced at-grade crossing where the $45 million Lower 5 Plaza project would have been located. McKinney City Council members voted on a resolution to redirect eorts during a Sept. 16 meeting. The action was followed by a sta update earlier that day during a council work session. Tracy Lund, assistant director of engineering for McKinney, broke down results from a public input survey conducted before the loss of federal funding. However, with the loss of federal funding, city sta recommended the new direction. “While this is certainly a change, I don’t think it stops or curbs the appetite to connect dierent areas of McKinney,” Mayor Bill Cox said. “I think the sta has done a great job in pivoting, if you will, or amending the original agreement.” The shift in scope comes more than a year after the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $15 million to the Lower 5 Plaza project in March 2024. The Lower 5 Plaza project would have included a bridge at ground level on the existing SH 5 with a park that extends under the roadway.

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City ocials are still planning an improved crossing where the Lower 5 Plaza project would have been.

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Looking ahead

TxDOT ocials are already planning reconstruction of SH 5 between McMakin Street and Power House Street. That project is expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, according to a city document. The city is already committed to funding improvements like street lighting, turn lanes and drainage improvements. If the enhanced at-grade crossing and additional pedestrian crossings were added to the project, the city’s contribution would increase to $12.39 million.

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