However, some areas still experience growing pains.
Aledo resident Susan Houghtalin resides in the Lasater Addition subdivision, west of FM 1187, south of Bailey Ranch Road. At the Aledo City Council meeting on Jan. 15, she brought forward information regarding the neighborhood streets being used as a pass-through from FM 1187 to/from Underwood Road or West Plum Street by commercial, business, and residential traffic. “It’s more of a street rather than a residential street,” Houghtalin said.
“That has been a common occurrence because people are wanting to avoid the traffic circle,” said Aledo Chief of Police Carol Riddle. “We have been monitoring and working some stop signs in that area to try to curtail that a little bit,” she said. “And the city is looking at some of the information that Miss Houghtalin brought forward as well, related to volume of traffic and things like that, to see what some of our other options are.”
Houghtalin has lived in the subdivision since 2010 and noticed the spike in traffic since the growth of surrounding businesses, residential communities, and the FM 1187 traffic circle. She said, “We tried a few years back to get them to close off Plum Street at Underwood to prevent people from cutting through,” but did not find success. However, the addition of “No Truck” signs recently is helping, but some drivers do not obey.
“The ultimate goal is to make it safe,” she said. “The cars whiz by with no regard for the fact that they were three feet away from human life or even our pets,” Houghtalin said.
The Aledo Police Department, along with the city, is aware of the traffic in the subdivision. “It’s definitely a work in progress,” said Riddle, “we are doing our best to catch the violators for the commercial motor vehicles that we can for driving through there and violating the ‘no trucks’ signs. And we’re working on addressing other traffic violations and looking to see what our options are for that neighborhood.”
City official discussions and enforcement efforts are ongoing while Aledo, a city experiencing growth, faces the challenge of balancing new development and maintaining the quality of established residential communities.
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