Plano Parker Road Construction Woes; Claims of Vehicle Damage Piling Up

Plano’s West Parker Road construction project continues to cause costly headaches for many drivers.

Claims of damage done to vehicles have been stacking up since the multi-million dollar project began in May 2023. The city is taking new action to increase driver safety on the busy thoroughfare.

Plano resident Jeff Neary says he typically avoids West Parker Road at all costs.

“A cluster,” he calls it. “We’ve got friends that have lost tires and rims on this road.”

On Monday morning, Neary was preparing for an important meeting at Legacy West.

This time, he decided to take the torn-up road. He drove up Canyon Valley Trail to the Parker intersection and reportedly saw a large gap of cones, allegedly about 18 feet apart.

So, he took it.

“I cross the street, make a left turn [onto W. Parker Rd.],” he recalled, pointing at a barricade in the distance. “You see that barricade? That wasn’t there.”

Neary says we drove down the road and right into trouble.

“My first reaction was S***,” he exclaimed. “All four tires are flat.”

Neary says he drove his wife’s SUV over a large and deep trench, damaging the tires, rims, and suspension at least $6,000.

Neary claims a barricade set up on Wednesday afternoon was not there to stop him.

“I come back, and six guys were moving the barricade into position,” he said.

Neary called 911, and the police responded. His wife’s car ended up at Discount Tire.

“The guy says you are the sixth person to bring their car in since 10 o’clock this morning,” said Neary.

Since the project began, Navigating Parker’s patchwork and sections with steep drop-offs has led to many allegations of vehicle damage.

Anyone impacted by construction projects in the city can file a claim with Plano’s Risk Management Department.

There have been 143 claims filed related to the Parker project so far, according to the city.

“That’s a lot. That’s a very high number for a construction project,” says City of Plano spokesman Steve Stoler.

Once a claim is filed with the city, a third party investigates, and if proven, the contractor is held financially liable, he says.

Affected motorists can also report issues through the city’s Fix It application.

“What we’re urging motorists is, if you can, take another thoroughfare to avoid construction,” said Stoler. “But when you go through construction zones, you have to use extreme caution.”

Stoler and the city’s engineering director note that in some cases, drivers simply ignore layers of safety, including cones and barricades.

“We even had someone go into a wet concrete zone and got caught in wet concrete,” he said.

The city estimates there are 50 trenches along Parker Road where line replacement work is being done.

It’s still unknown if Neary’s claims are true, but the city is taking action.

“One thing we’re going to do is take a look at all the intersections along Parker Road where the construction is,” said Stoler. “We’re asking [the contractor] to put up a third layer of barricades to prevent this kind of thing from happening.”

City inspectors are tasked with overseeing any safety issues along the corridor.

The city says that while they have encountered other projects where contractors go ‘belly up’, abandoning them, that has not happened along Parker.

While the project appears to be taking longer than anticipated, the city says that other than being delayed a month due to an onslaught of Spring storms, it is scheduled for completion by summer’s end.

The multi-phase project has been years in the making.

Road crews are replacing 50-year-old cast-iron water pipes with PVC lines running parallel and perpendicular to Parker Road.

Portions of Parker Road have not been touched in decades, and they will soon receive new concrete and an asphalt overlay.

Asphalt overlay work will be done during overnight hours, according to Stoler.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” said Stoler. “We ask everyone to show patience and bear with us. It’s going to be a great road for decades to come.”