The Medians Are Coming to Navarro Street

Anyone who drives Navarro knows what a headache it can be. The heavy traffic combined with a shared center/left-turn lane can be a recipe for disaster. If it's not two vehicles coming from opposite directions both trying to use the center lane to turn at the same time, then it's some bozo using the lane as a freeway on-ramp, which is illegal, by the way. Either scenario is a potential accident. Coming from a city where medians are the norm, I know from experience that it's a much safer way to deal with the problem, and a plan is in the works to add medians to Navarro.

The TexasTransportation Commission has approved funding to add medians to the busy thoroughfare from Loop 463 to Airline Road which includes $5.5 million for medians and $2.5 million for sidewalks along the road. The plan includes driveway and intersection access to side streets and businesses. According to a release from the commission, the medians already in use on Navarro north of Loop 463 have proven effective in lowering the number of accidents on the street.

Of course, you'll get pushback from business owners who say medians will keep residents from visiting their stores because of inconvenience, but that's just not true. It may be a minor inconvenience while construction is going on, but if someone is looking for your business, driving an extra half of a block to circle back to your store is not going to stop them from shopping there.

Our studios are located on North Star Drive off of Navarro and I can tell you, I'm glad we have a side street (Armory Drive) off of Mockingbird to get to and from work so I don't have to face off with some idiot trying to enter businesses on the opposite side of Navarro using the center lane at the same time. I can't tell you the number of times I have gone that way and almost had an accident.