Growth Requires Change
Antique Alley has been a long standing tradition for Cleburne and other towns nearby. We spend months preparing for the third weekend in April and September every year and believe the hard work we do to bring in customers from outside of Johnson County and beyond not only helps us at Antique Alley, but also helps the towns as a whole. Shoppers come to shop, to eat, to stay the night and more. They buy gasoline here, they spend time in our town and they get to know us as a friendly place with lots of friendly people.
With the implementation of signs on the sides of FM 4 between Cleburne and Grandview informing the shoppers they can no longer park on the side of the road, takes away revenue from everyone as a whole and will actually cause far more congestion along FM 4 than if they were able to continue to park there. These signs will also take away public servants from helping those in more need than passing out tickets for a parking violation. 
We ask that you reconsider, to make a change to your plans of the signs. We understand it would be cheaper to use the signs, saving TXDOT money and bringing in revenue from tickets to the County, but we believe there is another solution for all. We believe adding a middle lane to FM 4 will allow emergency vehicles a faster and safer way to get to those in need and also allow shoppers to continue to park on the sides of the roadway (*Section 545.303[c]) without worry about how emergency vehicles will get from point A to point B. 
We understand the cost of a new lane along FM 4 will be far more than parking violation signs, but we also believe the revenue brought in from Antique Alley as a whole will far outweigh the cost of this addition. The roads along FM 4 have already been exhausted and it’s time for a new lane to increase mobility and encourage continued growth (**Add New, TAMU). Antique Alley could be the new Canton or Round Top, but in order to make this the case, we must all be able to work together. If our voices can be heard and understood, that we can all agree the signs aren’t really a solution to stifle the growth of Antique Alley, then we can move forward and provide an amazing opportunity for the community and shoppers as a whole.

If anyone would like to call the person who made the decision for the signs, here is his info:
Randy Bowers, P.E.
2200 FM 2280
Keene, TX 76059
(817) 202-2900

* http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TN/htm/TN.545.htm
** http://mobility.tamu.edu/mip/strategies-pdfs/added-capacity/technical-summary/adding-new-lanes-or-roads-4-pg.pdf