Denton Trails Part 6 Concept: Pecan Creek Trail
How could we preserve open space and tree canopy and make the experience of walking or riding a bike or scooter to downtown delightful? Read on to learn how.
This is part six in the Denton Trails series, a series that thinks through what a low-stress multimodal transportation network would look like in Denton. It draws inspiration from other trail systems, proposes core principles we could use in developing our own system, and envisions several trail concepts and how they could form the core of a bike and walk portion of our upcoming mobility plan. Please join me as you walk, scoot, or ride through these musings:
Part 1: Why Trails?
Part 2: City Trails Inspiration
Part 3: Recreational Trails Inspiration
Part 4: Five Pillars of Trail Success
Part 5 Concept: Locust / UPRR Trail
Part 6 Concept: Pecan Creek Trail
Part 7 Concept: University Trails
Part 8: 35E Crossing Improvements
Part 9: Concept: Downtown Connectivity
Part 10: Mobility Plan Integration
Part 11: Bond Election — Make your voice heard
Between downtown and Lake Lewisville, Pecan Creek forges a tree-lined path outlined in green through floodplains and riparian areas that could be preserved and enjoyed with the development of a trail.
The section between Mayhill and downtown has the potential to be a heavily used route. It could be a game changer for residents of Southeast Denton. It could dramatically improve safety for clients of Monsignor King Outreach Center and Our Daily Bread, who can frequently be seen riding bicycles over to destinations on Loop 288 via Shady Oaks Drive. And it would help preserve one of the most densely treed areas within the core of Denton.
Within downtown and upstream from there, Pecan Creek provides several opportunities for improved trail access within our core, connecting to North Lakes Park via safer crossings of both Carroll Blvd. and University Drive. This potential trail route would connect the following:
- Downtown
- Ryan HS and Calhoun Middle School
- Rivera, Fred Moore, Calhoun, and Newton Rayzor schools
- Apartments along the south side of McKinney
- American Legion Senior Center, MLJ Rec Center, Fred Moore Park, Carl Gene Young Sr. Spraypark, Mack Park, Quakertown Park, North Lakes Park, and future parks developed along the corridor east of Woodrow
- Sunset Street / Alice Street shopping area south of University, shopping center north of University and the fairgrounds just north of there
From Lake Lewisville to downtown
From Lake Lewisville to Mayhill Road, it could be a natural recreational trail(A). This might connect later to recreational trails within the corps of engineer’s land around Lake Lewisville. It would then cross under the existing Mayhill and Loop 288 overpasses(B), before entering one of the last remaining large undeveloped areas near the core of Denton between Shady Oaks Drive, Woodrow, McKinney, and Loop 288(C). This area is currently zoned medium density residential and office, so there could be very high usage here in the future. This area could even develop into another walkable commercial district distinct from our square, increasing not only our town’s enjoyability, but our fiscal health as well. A short 1100 foot long spur along a current utility easement(D) could connect the trail to an existing high density apartment and townhome area south of McKinney Street.
Another spur could connect to Mack Park(E) and provide a safe pedestrian and bike crossing of McKinney in this area. This area along with southeast Denton could very well become one of the best connected areas for people biking and walking in our town.
From the A-train trail, it could follow the PEC-4 tributary now being upgraded to a buried concrete viaduct across S. Bell Avenue and meander through businesses and future development(F). In a recent Friday Staff Report (page 123–124):
“Business owners indicated they would be in favor of general enhancements of bike and pedestrian pathways along the route of the PEC-4 project, especially if such enhancements would increase their customer bases. However, concerns were expressed about the exact path of the trail. Residents are generally opposed to such a trail going through side yards or in between homes.”
Once the PEC-4 Pecan Creek tributary crosses S. Elm Street, it then enters residential areas, so it may make sense to truncate this portion of a trail system at Elm Street and connect it up to the Sycamore sidepath(G). This section from the A-train trail to Elm Street might be redundant from a long-range connectivity perspective, but it could prove a catalyst to walkable development south of downtown once the PEC-4 project is complete and much of the land is removed from the floodplain.
From downtown to North Lakes Park
The route from Carl Gene Young Sr. Spraypark to Quakertown Park may need to deviate from Pecan Creek, as there are several tricky road crossings here. More options will be detailed in Part 8 Concept: Downtown Connectivity. For now, we will consider three routing options from Quakertown Park to North Lakes Park that cross US380 at three different locations.
Northern tributary to Alice
The northern tributary could follow the creek until it reaches Sunset and Alice(A), an old strip center south of University Drive which has the potential to be a more productive walkable business area with several restaurants and other shops. It could then cross University (B) and we could transform this embarrassment of non-accessible sidewalk island into an inviting crossing of a multi-use trail which connects this shopping area to the neighborhoods to the north and south.
Make no mistake, this would take some effort, because this route would require working with the shopping center land owner to route a multi-use trail through their parking lot(C), similar to what is done in Springdale and Fayetteville along the Razorback Greenway. But it is possible. This particular section of the parking lot has very wide aisles between the parking stalls in a couple of places, such that the parking stalls could be separated with the trail running between them, and likely no parking spots would have to be sacrificed.
The width between these rows of parking is 50 feet. That’s wider than my house. Certainly we could shift the parking stalls to the left of the red route shown to the left by 10 feet, leaving the driveway between these parking rows at 40 feet. That’s still twice the 20 foot fire lane requirement.
From the parking lot, it would rejoin the northern Pecan Creek tributary(D) and then join the Hinkle bike lane(E). At that point, it could alternatively cut across Haggard Lane to join Bowling Green Park(F), which leads directly into North Lakes Park(G).
Southern tributary to Malone
The southern tributary option could follow the planned road diet on Parkway(A) to the signalized crossing of Carroll(B), and then follow the stream bed past the future Calhoun and Newton Razor campuses(C).This route could veer between on-street and off-street paths through the neighborhood as long as the minimum level of comfort was maintained. There is ample right of way to choose between these options in many areas. The route is shown crossing where the creek crosses under University Drive (D), but these drainage viaducts may be too short for a multi-use path to cross under. If that is not feasible, a safe crossing of University Drive could be provided at the signalized intersection with Malone. Once across, it could follow Amherst west(E) directly into a future path entry of South Lakes Park(F), or it could go east to Hinkle, and go north across Windsor into NorthLakes Park.
Hybrid option to Hinkle
What if the right of way on Fulton is insufficient for a high-comfort crossing, and negotiations with the commercial development owner north of Alice are unsuccessful? Another option would be to parallel the southern tributary, and then take advantage of existing city right of way and a planned bike facility on Hinkle to cross US380.
This route would follow the southern tributary(A) until just west of Fulton at the current Denton High School campus(B) — future home of Calhoun Middle School. It would then follow an already existing public right of way north(C), alongside the northern tributary of Pecan Creek to University Drive. This right of way varies in width from around 9 to 60 feet, so it appears it may be sufficient to create a multi-use trail. It would intersect University Drive south of Hinkle(D), and could have a safe crossing with a HAWK beacon (A High-intensity Activated crossWalK beacon which gives pedestrians priority over cars at a crossing) or traffic signal.
North of University Drive, Hinkle is already planned to have a bike facility. If that facility has a sufficient comfort level, then this route could follow Hinkle(E) all the way north to North Lakes Park. There will be a roundabout along this roadway which could complicate the comfort level for this route, so diverting west on Haggard Lane(F) to Bowling Green Park which connects to North Lakes Park could be a good option as well.
Many options, common goals
Like the Locust / UPRR trail, the Pecan Creek Trail would unify the two existing high-comfort trails in the city: The A-train trail and Cooper Creek Trail. It would transition us from a series of disconnected routes that seldom connect people to their destinations to a network that prospective trail users would actually use.
This route would provide a safe option for students of Calhoun to bike and walk to school from north of University Drive. It would provide a safe, direct connection from Downtown to communities west of Carroll and north of University, as well as those east of Windsor and Loop 288. It accomplishes a tremendous amount of nature preservation, especially to the east of downtown. A contiguous, high-comfort route along this corridor could transform our community.
Denton is, however, a town with two large universities. How do we ensure this system works for students and others near the universities? Next up, Part 7 Concept: University Trails.
