East McKinney Mobility and Transportation Study

East McKinney is home to several historic and culturally rich neighborhoods, adjacent to the City of McKinney’s historical downtown. Separated by SH 5, there is a significant vehicular barrier for pedestrians to safely access stores, restaurants, schools, and several public and private event and activity centers that can be found on the east side.

In 2019, McKinney voters passed a major bond proposition to spur new development east of their historic downtown, including a municipal community complex to drive reinvestment in East McKinney’s culturally rich and historic neighborhoods.

In preparation for improvements, the city hired Halff to conduct a mobility, transportation and public realm study. Our task was to suggest ways to improve traffic flow, offer more pedestrian and multi-mobility options, and support public realm enhancements that preserved the neighborhood’s character. Halff led multiple public engagement sessions and participated in several grassroot engagement meetings to capture the feedback of many long-established residents. This allowed Halff to create aligned recommendations that provided the least disruptions to the existing neighborhoods. A key strategy was to preserve historical structures and existing homes while planning transportation, mobility routes and access points, ensuring traffic flowed into the site’s center rather than nearby neighborhoods.

As the study area included five different historic neighborhoods, mobility and transportation enhancement strategies were evaluated to minimize loss of land or homes, minimize gentrification, and link a centralized urban greenspace between downtown and East McKinney. As identified within the One McKinney 2040 Comprehensive Plan, this neighborhood plan study area also identified a future transit stop to be located within the vicinity. Halff made sure future roadway and pedestrian infrastructure enhancements were accounted for this in the preferred alternative and recommendations.

The final recommendations included public realm, wayfinding and neighborhood placemaking recommendations that complements their recently completed Light Up Louisiana Street project in addition to a neighborhood traffic calming toolbox to keep the streets safe for residents and visitors.