Council explores options for increased sidewalk, road safety in downtown

The Collinsville City Council is exploring several ways to make the downtown area safer for drivers and pedestrians. The council first passed a new ordinance to regulate the use of bicycles, electric bikes, electric scooters, skateboards, roller skates and other personal mobility devices on sidewalks in designated areas citing pedestrian safety concerns. Signs will soon be posted letting people know where they may not use such devices. The council clarified that motorized scooters for handicap accessibility are exempt from this prohibition.

Council is also exploring ways to mitigate traffic issues in sections of downtown by possibly changing certain streets to one-way roads. The council is specifically looking at the 100 block of East Hughes, the 100 block of West Hughes as an eastbound one-way street and one block of Collinsville Street as a possible one-way northbound road.

The road is already quite narrow for two-way traffic, council members said. New restaurant traffic and parking are leading to increased congestion, making the streets even more difficult to navigate.

“You’ve got people parking past the stop sign, restaurant employees parking on the grass, it’s dangerous,” Alderman Austin Lewter said. The group seemed to be in agreement.

The council is looking into options for redirecting one-way traffic and re-striping parking areas. The bid to work on the one block of Collinsville Street was $10,000, which the Economic Development boards will review. The agenda item was tabled.

The council also revisited a previously discussed item regarding an alley between 107 Stone Street and 201 Stone Street. Ownership of the property is unclear, as some paperwork identifies it as City property while residents have been maintaining the space for years. While it was ultimately determined that the City does in fact own the space, it doesn’t mind releasing it. 

City Attorney Patricia Adams explained that under state law, the city can’t give away public property. 

“We can sell the property to adjacent property owners,” she said. “The City can release ownership.”

As Alderman Lewter’s brother is a property owner involved in the transaction, Lewter abstained from the vote and Alderman Jessica Orsburn was absent, so the vote had to be tabled.

The council also unanimously voted to:
•  change the speed limit from 35 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour on residential streets Olivia Lane, Georgia Boulevard and Park Place;
• accept the resignation of Alderman Carl Lucas;
• move forward with Resolutions R916-2026 and R917-2026 to award the selected grant management firm for grant pre-application, application, and implementation services for the City of Collinsville, 2027 and 2028 Texas Community Development Grant Fund Programs, as administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture;
• adopt the FY 2025-2026 budget with amendments reallocating $7,500 from the General line item 01-601-7364 to General line item 01-601-7120 and increasing the police personnel budget by $11,526.00, for paid leave expenses;
• approve an Interlocal Agreement between the City of Collinsville for payment of $55,995.72 as annual compensation for City of Whitesboro to provide ambulance service within the City of Collinsville;
• approve the 2026-2027 FY Fire Protective Service Agreement between the City of Collinsville and Grayson County.

After a somewhat lengthy executive session to discuss consultation with an attorney, personnel matters and business prospect for the City, no action was taken when the council reconvened.