A Walking Trail for Southlake?

The Board of directors of the Southlake Residential Association (SRA) believes the time has come for our community to have a place for residents and workers to walk other than in city streets.

The Board also believes it has identified an outstanding area to begin this project: the median of Southlake Parkway. Exiting Valleydale onto the Parkway, at the first crossing, a right turn takes you into the shopping center, and left turn takes you in the medical buildings area.

From this point on the Parkway, it is approximately seven tenths of a mile to Lakeridge Drive, where a right turn takes you into the Lakeridge community and another right turn into the Cove.

This portion of the Parkway median is divided into six separate sections created by exits to commercial buildings or into neighborhoods, or by turn arounds. Width of the median varies from 25 to 45 feet, and is home to 16 mature Water Oak trees, many, many pine trees, and a host of blooming pear trees that are in an advanced stage of decline.

The Board envisions a meandering, serpentine shaped trail perhaps eight to ten feet wide, constructed of compacted natural material, which would wind through the center portion of the median from the shopping center to Lakeridge Drive. The trail would meander right or left as needed to go around those beautiful oak trees and avoid almost all of the pines. This would provide a much wider safety buffer from vehicles on the Parkway than if the trail went down one side of the Parkway. Furthermore, using the median would also avoid the need to disturb any of the 37 oak trees on the right side of the Parkway or the 51 oak trees on the left side.

Projects of this type have recently been approved by the City of Hoover for Inverness and Riverchase at no cost to the communities. To explore the possibility of such a project for Southlake, the Board appointed a Government Affairs Committee which has recently met with city staff members. The city staff was supportive of a trail but leaned toward concrete construction down one side of the Parkway. They indicated that the next steps would be to refine the concept and then meet with Mayor Frank Brocato.

At this point, the Board supports the project whether of natural material or concrete, in the median or down one side, but it favors the natural approach down the median at reduced expense and shorter construction time. Another significant advantage during our warm months is that the median receives substantial shade during much of the day.

So, your SRA asks that our residents let the Board know how you feel about this idea. You can email the board at: southlakedirectors@gmail.com