The city of Plano has taken another small step down the road toward transforming The Shops at Willow Bend into a multibillion-dollar sports and entertainment district, which includes a new stadium for the Dallas Stars. A traffic study was recently approved to determine impact, but some Plano residents don't feel the analysis will be well-rounded enough.
Aayush Gupta, staff writer at Dallas Business Journal, sat down with NTX Now's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning to explain how this retail space could really affect Collin County.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity. To hear the full conversation, click the 'listen' button above.
Gupta says this traffic study will be a narrow look at what is going on around The Shops at Willow Bend, but he says neighbors are concerned that this won't paint a broad enough picture.
"This is only going to be looking at areas surrounding the entertainment district," Gupta says. "A lot of neighbors are concerned that this isn't looking far east or maybe even further out to get a better holistic view."
But the city says this initial traffic study is just a preliminary view.
For residents, traffic is just one piece of the conversation. Noise is also a top concern.
"It's people who lived in these neighborhoods [who] will have to deal with the parking and all the people, and that added noise that comes from this development," Gupta said. "I think a lot of people, when they moved to Plano 10 to 15 years ago, moved for like the small suburban feel, quiet."
Long term, the timeline isn't set on when the construction could be finished. Gupta says it will be a few years until the space is useable.
"What they're planning is to have this open by the time the [Dallas] Stars lease at American Airlines ends in 2031," Gupta said.
He said some retail spaces may be phased in before or after 2031, but construction will begin next year.
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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