COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — More than 1,000 residents have signed a petition against a plan that would expand a neighborhood street to four lanes and extend it southward.
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Pebble Creek Parkway, which runs through the Pebble Creek subdivision in College Station, is currently designated as a four-lane minor arterial with a southward extension in the city's thoroughfare plan.
"It's a very tranquil, family-friendly neighborhood," said Kerry Roper, a Pebble Creek resident. "We get literally hundreds of walkers and joggers and cyclists, golf cart drivers up and down Pebble Creek Parkway every day."
Residents of the established neighborhood worry that expanding the street would fundamentally change their community's character and create safety concerns.
"It's a very established community that looks out for each other and that's what we would hate to lose," said AnnaLou Busboom, a Pebble Creek resident.
While the thoroughfare plan shows the potential expansion, city officials emphasize that no project has been approved for the area.
"It's actually engaging the public and stakeholders and seeing if they see if there's any changes and so this is one of them that we'll look at," said Jason Schubert, Transportation Planning Administrator for the City of College Station.
Residents15 ABC spoke with unanimously oppose the current plan, citing concerns about increased traffic, safety risks, and neighborhood disruption.
"We chose Pebble Creek because of the lifestyle and the type of neighborhood it was and we just feel like having more traffic come right in the middle will impair that tremendously," Roper said.
Busboom expressed concerns about safety: "Any time you increase that much traffic, then you have extra avenues in and out of the community, you increase the chance for crime, which is the safety issue here is a huge issue for me."
Another Pebble Creek resident, Annabelle Bradshaw-Rains, highlighted dangers to vulnerable road users: "There are children and birds and animals that are constantly in our arena and you turn it into a speedway, it's very dangerous."
With the City of College Station reviewing its comprehensive plan, this area is in the spotlight.
"We don't want all that traffic going right through the heart of our subdivision," Roper said.
Roper and Busboom tell15 ABC they've been communicating with College Station City Council members to share their concerns and help identify alternatives to the current plan.
A petition launched in August has gathered more than 1,000 signatures opposing the expansion with hundreds of comments.
The issue will be addressed at the City Council meeting on Sept. 25.
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