TEMPLE, Texas — Concern is brewing over a new Temple construction project near Interstate 35. It's called the East West Gateway Project and is expected to be completed by October 2024.
The City says this will bring improved irrigation, landscape planting, lighting and art installations to the areas between West Central Avenue and West Adams Avenue.
Long-time homeowners in Temple have all seen explosive growth and tell 6 News they understand the importance of bringing in more people and keeping the city beautiful.
Mona Johnson-Fullmer has been in Temple since 1977 and says the City is going overboard by spending over $5 million on this project.
"City fathers have gone overboard with signage for city entrances, building new streets for new developments and have sorely lacked in maintenance for existing city streets," Johnson-Fullmer wrote 6 News. "I would challenge anyone to drive in Western Hills, around the Kiwanis Park area, Midway Drive area, between Bonham Middle School and I-35 and numerous other areas and think otherwise. If I understand correctly, that new entryway/beautification project cost $5.5 million. That would pay for a lot of road repairs that is a tangible functional use vs. just a “pretty up” space."
Megan Price, Public Relations Coordinator for the City of Temple, confirmed the budget for the project is about $5.6 million.
The City says it's all to help enhance Temple's image, bringing in more visitors and locals.
"Wilsonart, McLane's, you already have big names, so people are going to want to come here because of those businesses," Matthew Blake, Temple homeowner and shop manager at Signs of the Times, said.
When the City announced the project on its Facebook page, it was met with mostly comments from people saying it's money not well spent. Blake is just one who agrees, along with Johnson-Fullmer.
"A sign, that's not going to really draw more people," Blake said. "It just polishes a turd. It was a waste of money in my opinion. They could have fixed a lot of roads around here."
Mark Lewis has lived in the city for over 50 years and agrees there are other projects that should be prioritized.
"I think they're kind of overlooking a lot of the projects that needed to be done in favor for this," Lewis said. "Kegley Road for one, you know, needs a lot of work. Highway 36 is really expanding out by the airport. When you start going past 317, going out to Moffat, it gets really crowded. We've had a number of accidents out there, fatalities even. We could do some expansion out there. Moffat Road really needs to be expanded and worked on. A lot of road projects that we need could be fixed."
Lewis does agree the city needs something to bring people in.
"When you start talking about Main Street, a lot of the potholes, and you know we have a lot of the downtown projects that are going on," Lewis said. "That's great. Temple really needs things like that."
Lewis believes, however, along with many others, that projects are being overlooked.
"A lot of that money can be allocated better for projects, city projects, getting dialysis patients to and from dialysis," Lewis added. "There's a big need for that especially, you know, for elderly patients. They probably could have maybe done a vote for the residents here to see what would have been better for everybody."
The City says the project should be done by October 2024. They are actively working on multiple road projects too.
6 News asked about the concerns people have. The City encourages people to check out Let's Talk Temple, a platform designed to keep people connected with what's happening in Temple.
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