A friend who lives in Austin ventured through Princeton recently partly to check out some of the issues I have raised on this blog … at least that’s what he said.
He was traveling from Paris through Princeton and wanted to know about the hubbub over this city’s enormous growth.
He got a small taste of what I have been saying about this Collin County community that is undergoing a fairly fundamental identity crisis. My friend said somethinga about the city-imposed moratorium on residential construction. The council imposed the ban and then recently extended it another six months. My hunch is that it will do so again and again … and may even again.
City Manager Mike Mashburn estimates that Princeton is home to more than 40,000 residents. I believe him! Builders are planting “New Homes Coming” signs still on undeveloped residential plots as they commence contruction to fulfill building permits that already were approved prior to the council’s decision to suspend residential construction.
The city has overbuilt beyond its ability to service the people who already are here. It is trying to halt the construction long enough to enable it to provide the infrastructure it needs to provide the service.
My friend said he cannot imagine how tough it is during morning and evening rush hours along U.S. 380, the major east-west thoroughfare that cuts through Princeton. What’s more, it’s going to get worse. Texas transportation gurus want to widen 380 from four lanes to six, but to do that the’ll have to shut down two of the lanes to make the highway a two-lane track while they build the extra lanes.
I appreciate my friend’s outsider perspective. He can’t “imagine” how bad it can get here. I got news for him. Neither can I.