Trotter Park Finally Goes to Bid This Month — After Two Years of Planning

If you've driven past the undeveloped lot at 4551 Cross Timbers Road and thought still nothing — this is your update. The town's design for Trotter Park is 90% complete, and the bid is scheduled for this month.

That's the move from paper to pavement. When a public project goes to bid, contractors price the work and compete for the contract. A bid award follows. Then dirt moves.

The project covers the 13.11-acre property at 4551 Cross Timbers Road and, per the approved master plan, will include two tennis courts, twelve pickleball courts, a basketball court, playground, plaza area, native landscaping, parking, a restroom building, soft surface and concrete trails, and a detention pond. That's a lot for one parcel. The pickleball count alone — twelve courts — should get some attention from anyone currently driving to other towns to find open court time.

The land itself has a history worth knowing. The town received the parkland in a deed from Toll Brothers in 2020. It had previously wanted to put a tennis center there, but voters in May 2023 rejected a proposed $7.5 million bond election, prompting the town to move forward with a different plan. So the current design — courts, trails, playground — is the version the community shaped after that rejection. Two years of surveys, town halls, and back-and-forth with designer MHS Planning & Design produced what's now almost ready to price.

Funding is a patchwork, which is actually reassuring. Sources include the Park Development Fund, Dedicated Sales Tax, and a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant. That grant is $750,000. It comes with a condition: the town must keep Trotter Park accessible to the public, properly maintained and designated as park land in perpetuity. This can't later become a parking lot or a cell tower site.

One engineering wrinkle surfaced during design. Staff flagged a central engineering issue: the project area lacks sewer, and the planned restroom will need a septic solution. That was flagged early in 2025 and appears to have been worked through — the town's own project tracker now lists the design at 90% and the bid on schedule for July. Whether that septic solution added cost or time to the design phase is something to watch when the bid award comes back.

The timeline that matters now: bid goes out this month, contractors respond, town staff reviews and recommends an award. Once council approves a contractor, that's your real signal — the one that tells you whether a spring 2027 opening is still realistic or has slipped. Construction is expected to last between 12 and 15 months, with officials previously targeting a grand opening in spring 2027.

Watch for the bid award announcement. That's the number — the contract price — that will tell you whether the budget held or whether there are surprises ahead.