Final stage neared
No-parking signs may soon be up in Frisco Heights
By Sarah Krebs
Staff Reporter

As the city nears the final stages of putting up no-parking signs in the Frisco Heights Neighborhood, the decision to change signs all around campus is on the back-burner, city officials say.

Randy Burkett, City Traffic Engineering Department representative, said the new signs will say no parking on school days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the area west of Park Hill Drive and north of Berry Street. At some of the more critical intersections parking will be prohibited 20 feet from the corners, he said.

Burkett said though the signs surrounding campus would not be changed yet, the places with the highest safety issues would be addressed as soon as possible.

“When a problem is called to our attention, our concern is for the neighborhood safety,” Burkett said. “Now I am going to take one step at a time to make the signs uniform.”
Marsha Cowdin, a member of the Frisco Heights Neighborhood Association traffic committee, said she is elated the signs will be put up.

“These are things that have been going on and on and that didn’t happen over night,” Cowdin said. “So to me they are urgent when it’s restricting emergency vehicles. This is serious.”

Erin Hajduch, a sophomore premajor, said she is frustrated by the parking situation at TCU.

“I know that the people who live around there must be annoyed with all of the people parking in front of their drive ways,” Hajduch said.

Matt Snow, a senior business major, said he parks on the streets near Dan Rogers Hall, but always follows the signs about where he can and cannot park.

“I believe that putting up more signs will not solve the problem with parking because that will mean more crowded parking lots and people will be more inclined to break the rules,” Snow said. “I don’t want to fight to get a parking spot, so I’d rather park on the street.”

Snow said TCU needs to work with the city to solve the issue that is such an apparent inconvenience for the people who live in the neighborhood and for the commuters.

The next step in the process of getting the new signs put up is to make a layout of existing conditions and present it to the director of public transportation, which will take two to three weeks, Burkett said. If approved, it will take another two to three weeks to place the work order to get the signs on the street, he said.

s.d.krebs@tcu.edu