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Residents urge removal of Garden Acres medians, say traffic lights would worsen congestion
Summary
Residents and neighborhood advocates asked the council to remove medians on Texas Avenue and related corridors, arguing medians block access, push traffic onto residential streets and that adding traffic signals would exacerbate problems.
Residents from Garden Acres and nearby neighborhoods urged the City of Bryan council to remove medians installed along Texas Avenue and opposed adding an additional traffic signal at a nearby intersection, saying medians restrict access and force large vehicles onto narrow residential streets.
Jack Robbins, a resident and neighborhood volunteer, said residents overwhelmingly oppose adding a traffic signal at Texas Avenue and South Garden Acres and urged that the medians be removed to restore direct access to subdivisions. Robbins recounted outreach in affected neighborhoods and cited a letter from a Texas A&M professor who uses the medians as a case study, writing that the proposed traffic signal would “exacerbate existing problems” and that “the median installation was not the optimal solution.”
Karen Hall, another speaker, argued the city does not have to use Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) funds for median removal and suggested the city could use its general fund, noting College Station had previously used its general fund for similar work. Hall proposed beginning with a half‑mile stretch between Hensel and North Avenue and listed access and safety benefits she expects from removal, including improved access for first responders and delivery trucks.
Speakers asked for council action to remove medians rather than invest in additional signals; the council did not take a removal vote at the meeting and no staff schedule for median removal or a cost estimate was provided on the record.
