GLEN ROSE, Texas — Spend a few minutes in downtown Glen Rose, and you'll hear the roar -- sometimes coming from the direction of Dinosaur Valley State Park.
But the sound inevitably isn't from a T-Rex, but a truck instead -- and city leaders here worry the volume and size of the big rigs traversing across lanes as they turn in the main square will eventually make tourism extinct.
"It's not right. We've got to end it," said Mayor Joe Boles.
He said the trucks, sometimes hundreds in a single morning, can't make the tight turn along State Highway 114 without disrupting traffic flow. They tear up the sidewalk, hit utility poles and throw up rocks that break windows, he said.
"It is chaos," Boles said. "Safety is the issue."
Alongside the city council and city administrator Troy Hill, he's been advocating for an alternate truck route, but they say the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has told them their ordinance establishing one is "not acceptable."
"It is not a safe occurrence having trucks in a downtown square like this," Hill said. "Our shop owners want to have the doors open, they want a welcoming type atmosphere. We can’t do it today because of the trucks."
In a statement to WFAA, TxDOT said it is continuing to work with Glen Rose to expedite their request for an alternate truck route.
"The steps that need to be taken, as well as an overview of the process and examples, have been shared with the city numerous times in varying formats including multiple in-person meetings and email communications," a spokesperson said.
TxDOT has public meetings scheduled starting next month to discuss an alternate bypass road to alleviate congestion downtown.
Hill worried progress wouldn't happen fast enough.
"We can't wait that long," he said, adding the city's police department has been issuing warnings to truck drivers who officers determine don't make the turn safely.
"For our success in being able to attract more visitors here, it has to happen," Hill said. "That’s all there is to it."
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