Lake Dallas ISD approves drainage easement to allow Hundley Drive widening

The Lake Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a permanent drainage easement and a temporary construction easement across district property at 424 East Hundley Drive on March 24, 2025, to support a planned widening and stormwater improvement project on Hundley Drive.

Board members approved the easements after staff and city-contracted engineers described plans to convert the existing ditch that crosses the district’s facilities parcel into a landscaped, trapezoidal drainage channel and to install stormwater piping beneath a new concrete curb-and-gutter street. Mike Cox, project engineer with McAdams, said the work is part of roadway reconstruction funded through the 2022 Denton County bond program and coordinated with the City of Lake Dallas.

The project will rebuild Hundley Drive as a three-lane roadway with a center turn lane, lower certain roadway grades “as much as a couple of feet” where necessary to allow adjacent properties to drain over the curb, and replace an aging pedestrian walkway, Cox said. The team plans a wide, low-maintenance channel on the school and neighboring church property with a concrete ribbon in the invert to allow mowing and easier upkeep.

Engineers told the board that on-site parking that currently encroaches into the right-of-way will be reconfigured and restriped so the district keeps the same total number of spaces (67), while allowing the roadway expansion. The board heard that two easements are being requested: a permanent drainage easement for the finished channel and a wider temporary construction easement that will be released after construction.

When a trustee asked who would maintain the new channel on district property, Cox said, “The easement would belong to the city, so the city would maintain the easement.” The presentation noted that the city would assume responsibility for maintenance inside the permanent drainage easement, while the district would continue standard maintenance of adjacent grounds outside the easement area.

Trustee Baird made the motion to approve; Trustee Tucker seconded. The presiding officer called the vote and reported it was unanimous.

The board packet and presentation materials said the improvements are intended to reduce recurring drainage problems on Hundley Drive and produce a safer, more usable street for buses and other traffic. Board members asked follow-up questions about maintenance responsibilities and the appearance of the finished channel; city and project staff said the design is intended to be easily maintained with standard turf mowers.

No final construction schedule or cost-share details were presented at the meeting; those items were described as part of ongoing coordination between the city and its consultant team.