LEWISVILLE, Texas — Lewisville will close a portion of Kia Drive permanently over safety concerns, city officials announced.
The city will permanently shut down Kia Drive between the Interstate 35E service road and East Southwest Parkway, which runs alongside Glory Park/Parque La Gloria.
Officials said they decided to close the road "to address safety concerns for pedestrians, cyclists, and families using the park."
Kathy Gravely says she and her granddaughter are already reaping the benefits.
“You know kids will take off like that,” Gravely said.
Monday – her toddler granddaughter fearlessly navigated the 2.5-acre park. Gravely says she was pleasantly surprised to see she had one less thing to worry about with no cars speeding down Kia Drive.
“I was shocked to see the road closed,” Gravely said. “What a lot of people did was the shortcut and not to go up to the light.”
The well-known shortcut wasn’t that much of an issue before the park opened in June, but not long after the city started getting complaints.
“Moms, the dads, I mean, even like some of the young kids were talking about how quickly traffic was moving through this drive,” said Lewisville Parks and Rec Director Stacie Anaya.
With families, pedestrians and cyclists all using the park, Anaya decided they should do something about it.
“A couple of weeks ago, we took possession of this part of Kia Drive and we've closed it down to through traffic,” Anaya said.
A DriveTime dealership is in the area of the closure, just off the service road and Kia Drive, and drivers going there will still be allowed to use a private driveway portion of Kia Drive. But drivers won't be allowed to go along Kia Drive from I-35E to Southwest Parkway. The city is now planning what to do with the stretch.
“The capacity to host food trucks and farmers markets...that's one of the big reasons as well that we wanted to get Kia Drive,” Anaya said.
Drivers on Southwest Parkway will still be able to access the I-35E service road by going south to Corporate Drive.
"With the closure of the private drive, the City aims to create a safer, more accessible environment for everyone to explore and enjoy the park’s natural beauty without the risk of traffic hazards," officials said in a release.
The city says the feedback about the closure has been mostly positive.
“It'll be a little bit of a growing pain, you know, change is tough for everybody and just getting used to the new accommodations,” Anaya said.
For those like Gravely and her granddaughter, they’re happy to see safety is top of mind.
“It makes me feel great that cars aren't rushing up and down because I've seen it happen before,” Gravely said. “I'm thrilled that they're gonna do what they're doing to make it safer for everyone.”