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1.0_IntroductionFINAL DRAFT January 28, 2005 Southlake 2025 Plan S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area Phase II Analysis & Recommendations 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION The State Highway 114 (S.H. 114) corridor provides a critical east-west connection in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area (Metroplex). It links downtown Dallas and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to centers of activity in the northwest portion of the Metroplex – Alliance Airport and Texas Motor Speedway. This corridor is one of the most significant corridors in the northeast Tarrant County area and provides critical regional mobility. It links the cities of northeast Tarrant County with regional employment centers of Las Colinas, Downtown Dallas, DFW International Airport, and Alliance Texas. Location of S.H. 114 Corridor through Northeast Tarrant County 1.1 Regional Role of S.H. 114 Broadly defined, the State Highway 114 corridor is an approximately forty (40) mile stretch, from its intersection with Interstate 35E in Dallas to Interstate 35W in Fort Worth. The corridor connects some of the fastest growing communities in Dallas-Fort Worth. Locally, the corridor also functions to serve existing and future employment centers in Southlake and Westlake. State Highway 114’s function as a link between DFW and Alliance deserves particular emphasis. DFW is one of the nation’s busiest airports, while Alliance is an increasingly important multimodal distribution center. Together, they represent a key transportation hub of the mid-continent United States and make the area extremely attractive nationally and internationally as a location for business and industry. State Highway 114 should be viewed as an economic development imperative, both to accommodate a steadily increasing volume of motor vehicle traffic and to ensure that traffic congestion does not jeopardize the ability of the corridor communities to compete FINAL DRAFT January 28, 2005 Southlake 2025 Plan S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area Phase II Analysis & Recommendations 2 successfully for new business and capital investment (Source: Explosive Growth in the 114 Corridor, H. Gross, PhD., B. Weinstein, PhD. & T. Clower, University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research). Increasingly, the S.H. 114 Corridor is competing with the far north Dallas communities of Frisco, Allen, and McKinney in the Metroplex for new development. 1.2 Local Role of S.H. 114 In the city of Southlake, S.H. 114 is about a 5-1/2 mile stretch of freeway, bifurcating the city diagonally from the northwest to the east. It is a 6-lane freeway with 3-lane frontage roads in both east and west bound directions along most of the freeway. Specifically, S.H. 114: • Carries high volumes of traffic regionally and inter-regionally; • Carries traffic into Southlake (i.e shopping/work); • Conveys traffic out of Southlake (i.e. commuter traffic to regional employment centers); and • Conveys pass-through traffic via Southlake. The SH-114 freeway and associated frontage are not designed to carry local trips. The current roadway configuration in Southlake could force most local trips destined for the employment/shopping centers along SH-114 corridor onto the freeway frontage roads. This would add additional traffic to the considerable volumes of traffic projected in 2030. By 2030, the main lanes of S.H. 114 are projected to carry about 175,000 average daily trips in both directions (see Figure 1.1) and the frontage roads are projected to carry anywhere from 11,000 (at White Chapel) to 30,000 (between Kimball and F.M. 1709) average daily trips in each direction. View of west-bound access road of S.H. 114 at the Gateway Bridge. View of east-bound access road of S.H. 114 at Nolen drive. FINAL DRAFT January 28, 2005 Southlake 2025 Plan S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area Phase II Analysis & Recommendations 3 Figure 1.1 FINAL DRAFT January 28, 2005 Southlake 2025 Plan S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area Phase II Analysis & Recommendations 4 1.3 Role of the Southlake 2025 Plan This document that includes a preliminary analysis and recommendations for development in the S.H. 114 Corridor is part of the larger effort of Phase II of the Southlake 2025 Plan. The city has been generally divided into 9 distinct planning areas in order to facilitate an efficient, but detailed study of the entire city (see figure below). The boundaries shown for the different planning areas may change as the Planning and Zoning Commission sees fit. They are intended to be flexible with general identification of areas of distinct development impact. These delineations are for planning purposes only and may contain areas similar in character and/or land use. The S.H. 114 Corridor plan area is area “I” as indicated by the map below. Southlake 2025 Plan – Phase II S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area “I” FINAL DRAFT January 28, 2005 Southlake 2025 Plan S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area Phase II Analysis & Recommendations 5 1.4 General Character of the Corridor The S.H. 114 Corridor is characterized by regional scale retail uses east of Carroll Avenue and south of S.H. 114 including Southlake Town Square, Village Center, Southlake Corners, and Gateway Plaza developments (see map below). The plan area is also home to residential neighborhoods to the south and along Carroll Avenue and Dove Street. Some recent residential developments include Triple C Ranch and Estes Park. The plan area includes and is adjacent to some established, low-intensity residential neighborhoods such as Whispering Dell Estates, Highland Estates, and Sunshine Lane. Properties along Dove Street provide a transition between development along S.H. 114 and low-intensity neighborhoods to the north of the city. Location of residential and commercial development in the S.H. 114 Corridor Plan Area At the northwestern edge of the planning area are key regional employment centers including Verizon Wireless and Sabre in Southlake and Solana in Westlake. For the most part, a significant number of properties along S.H. 114 in the city of Southlake are vacant. This can be attributed to the fact the S.H. 114 was recently (January 2004) improved from a 4-lane divided facility to a freeway and the depressed real-estate market conditions from 2002 to 2004.