Rethinking the Pebble Creek Parkway Extension: CSAN Makes the Case for a Better Plan

CSAN members Kerry Roper and Peter Bastian addressed the College Station City Council on April 9, 2026, urging council members to remove the proposed Pebble Creek Parkway extension from the City's Comprehensive Plan — and to replace it with something far more valuable.

You can watch Kerry Roper's and Peter Bastian's presentations to council HERE. Kerry's talk begins at the 1:50:05 mark and ends at the 2:00:38 mark. Peter's talk begins at the 2:01:15 mark and ends at the 2:10:47 mark. Their presentations are below.

City Of CS Council Meeting 2026-04-09 Roper.pdf

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City Of CS Council Meeting 2026-04-09 Bastian.pdf

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At the heart of a growing debate in south College Station is a deceptively simple question: Does extending Pebble Creek Parkway southward actually help anyone — and at what cost? For residents and CSAN board members Peter Bastian and Kerry Roper, the evidence points firmly in one direction: remove the extension from the Comprehensive Plan and invest instead in something the community will genuinely value.

What's Being Proposed — and Why Residents Object

The Comprehensive Plan currently includes an extension of Pebble Creek Parkway south of St. Andrews Drive, intended to improve vehicular connectivity as development expands in the area. Bastian and Roper both challenged the premise that this extension is necessary or beneficial — and their arguments go well beyond neighborhood self-interest.

Pebble Creek is a 30-year-old community built on the enclave model of urban planning. So is the planned Savannah Oaks development, with its cul-de-sacs and looped streets. Developers continue choosing enclave designs because residents value what they deliver: reduced cut-through traffic, lower noise, and safer streets. Extending the parkway would disrupt the enclave character of not one but two established neighborhoods — and the Comprehensive Plan itself states that "new residential subdivisions should be designed to fit within the existing fabric of the community" and commits to "continued viability and long-term protection of College Station's residential neighborhoods."

The Traffic Study Says: Don't Do It

Perhaps the most striking element of Roper's presentation was a direct quotation from the City's own traffic study. The study concluded that removing the Pebble Creek Parkway extension "does not have a significant impact on the operating conditions of the surrounding thoroughfares in the area, even with considerations for future development potential." In other words, skipping the extension won't create traffic problems elsewhere — but building it would generate congestion on Pebble Creek Parkway itself. From a pure traffic engineering standpoint, the extension fails to justify itself.

Roper also put macro-level connectivity in perspective. Without the extension, there are already three thoroughfares within 1.9 miles of each other at Fitch Parkway — Highway 6, Lakeway Drive, and Rock Prairie Road — and four within 2.3 miles when Arrington Road is included. The connectivity gap the extension is meant to fill doesn't really exist.

Emergency Response: The Numbers Tell a Different Story

Proponents of the extension have cited emergency response times as a key justification. Roper addressed this directly with travel time calculations comparing routes for different areas south of Pebble Creek. For Area B, the PCP extension yields a travel time of 5 minutes 25 seconds, while the Lakeway Drive route comes in at just 9 seconds longer — a negligible difference. For Area D, the Lakeway route is actually faster. For Area C — the zone likely to have the highest density of people during business hours — Lakeway is faster under every scenario modeled.

On the question of a future fire station, City staff acknowledged at a Planning & Zoning meeting that a new station will eventually be needed as south College Station grows. With projections of up to 15,000 new residents in the area over the next 12–15 years — and City staff estimating the extension is at least a decade away from implementation — Roper argued there is no justification for compromising the neighborhood now to serve as an interim emergency route when better alternatives already exist.

Safety, Crime, and Quality of Life

The extension raises serious safety concerns of its own. Roughly 100,000 pedestrians use Pebble Creek Parkway and the Lick Creek Trail annually, along with approximately 75,000 golf course crossings. Converting the corridor into a designated thoroughfare — one the traffic study already flags as congested — would put all of those users at heightened risk.

Roper also cited research from the Journal of Quantitative Criminology showing that increased street connectivity and multiple access points correlate with higher rates of property crime. Connectivity, in other words, works for criminals too. Even the developer of the land south of Pebble Creek has repeatedly stated that future residents of those subdivisions are unlikely to use the extension — raising the question of who, exactly, it is meant to serve.

What Planning & Zoning Said

The proposal to remove the Pebble Creek Parkway extension made a stop at the College Station Planning and Zoning Commission before reaching the full Council. The result was a 3–3 tie — a split that reflects genuine community division on the issue.

Three commissioners voted to remove the extension, citing strong public feedback against it. Commissioner Higdon drew a historical parallel, noting that an earlier regional plan once proposed extending 2818 through the Emerald Parkway corridor — a project that would have significantly impacted the Emerald Forest neighborhood. Commissioner Finch referenced the negative effects of through traffic in his own neighborhood as a motivating factor. Even Commissioner Watson, who voted to keep the extension, acknowledged the need for viable alternatives — which is precisely what Bastian came prepared to offer.

A Better Vision: A Regional Trail System, Lakeway and Fire Station 8

Rather than simply opposing the roadway extension, Bastian put forward an affirmative vision: a South College Station Regional Trail System. The concept would repurpose the corridor as a network of recreational trails, pedestrian pathways, and connected green spaces — linking Pebble Creek, the future Savannah Oaks, and Southern Pointe to each other and to Lick Creek Park, one of the crown jewels of College Station's park system. Connectivity doesn't have to mean cars. It can mean safe, enjoyable, low-impact routes that enhance quality of life and support healthy living.

Bastian invoked the High Line in New York City as an example of what reimagined infrastructure can become. While the scale is obviously different, the underlying principle applies: underutilized or contested corridors can be transformed into public amenities that attract residents, promote healthy lifestyles, and strengthen community bonds. With the continued residential growth in south College Station, he argued, now is exactly the right moment to make that kind of bold, forward-looking choice.

For vehicular connectivity, both speakers pointed to Lakeway Drive — already wider, already designed for higher traffic volumes, and already functioning as a commercial corridor. Lakeway's extension is expected to proceed regardless, with developers likely funding their portion as adjacent land is developed. Pairing that with a strategically located Fire Station 8 in south College Station would address both connectivity and emergency response without sacrificing neighborhood integrity.

The Bottom Line

The Comprehensive Plan's stated vision is to promote "the highest quality of life" for College Station residents. Bastian and Roper argued, with data and detail, that removing the Pebble Creek Parkway extension is precisely how to honor that commitment in south College Station — protecting two established neighborhoods while building shared amenities that will serve the entire region for generations.

Bastian and Roper’s closing message to the Council was both practical and aspirational: remove the extension from the Comprehensive Plan, direct vehicular traffic to Lakeway Drive, and use the freed corridor to build something that will serve residents for decades — a connected trail system linking neighborhoods, parks, and open spaces in south College Station.

In a city that continues to grow rapidly, the choices made in the Comprehensive Plan today will shape the community that future generations inherit. For Roper, Bastian and many of their neighbors, the trail system represents the better bet — for quality of life, for property values, and for the kind of community College Station wants to be.

After closing the public hearing, College Station City Council voted 4-3 to remove the Pebble Creek Parkway extension from the City's Comprehensive Plan. Council members Smith, White, Yancy and Schafer voted in favor of the removal. Council members Wright and McIlhaney, and Mayor Nichols voted against the removal.

Peter Bastian and Kerry Roper are members of the College Station Association of Neighborhoods (CSAN).