Was told they are towing vehicles under the bridge near Firewheel. Is there alternative parking area???

FIFY



I drive by there a lot and have never seen any towing, but there is paved parking at Rowlett Creek - Dallas County Nature Preserve

I drove by yesterday and noticed, "NO TRESSPASSING" signs. This is new...I have never seen those posted before.

Yes I have seen them towing and the Game Wardens are working the area very heavily as well. The GW's seem more interested in the fishing violations though and Garland PD more interested in the obvious trespassing that is going on. In the last 2 trips I have seen 3 different GW's. Really good to see them working the area so hard after seeing that creek neglected for so long.

As far as the parking at Fire Wheel goes there is no way anyone can park there without knowing they are breaking the law. There are multiple no trespassing signs posted as you jump the curb. People think there is safety in numbers though and they take their chances assuming they wont get towed. Bottom line is you are going to have to walk a long way unless you want to risk a tow fee or a ticket or maybe both.

I haven't seen any towing but that doesn't mean it's not happening. Glad the GW's are there. Personally, I like to walk/bike and avoid the crowds.

Alternative: Park at a grocery store and uber. It will not cost much at all and beats the tow fees.....

Nope, no more parking at rowlett creek, really unfortunate.

I ran into one of the game wardens working the area in late February at Rowlett Creek under Firewheel. I had hopped a curb to get there and he and I talked for probably 10 minutes and he didn't mention anything about the towing of vehicles then. That doesn't mean that vehicles aren't getting towed now. Can anyone confirm? I filmed my interaction with him. Here is a link to the video on YouTube.

I got some good info I will post later tonight.

OK heres the scoop:

I asked one of several Game Wardens I have seen out there about that area now being private property. He did aknowledge that the area is private property now but stopped short of saying he was running people off. The other GW's I have seen out there seem to be on the same page. For the most part I think they are more concerned about license and game violations over the other stuff. I asked him about Garland PD running people off for parking there and he said he is hearing the same thing from people as well.

As far as Garland PD is concerned, I have no first hand experience with them because I do not park there so I dont know. I have heard from enough reliable sources though that it is in fact happing so I have no doubt it is.

The towing part is where it gets good! Prior to yesterday I have seen tow trucks out there twice as I drive by. Yesteday afternoon I was walking the creek and saw yellow lights in that parking area as I walked by so I walked up there to check it out. Sure enough there was a tow truck up there hooking up a vehicle. I talked to the driver for a bit and he filled me in on how it works out there. He said that the reason you dont see tow trucks out there non stop is because towing from there is considered a "low priority tow". He said they have contracts with dealerships, cities, repair shops, etc that they tow for and those are "high priority tows". The towing they do from the Firewheel lot is done in between priority calls. Basically rather than the trucks sitting idle between calls they just go tow a few here and few there. He said some days they may tow as many as 8-10 off that lot and other days they might tow none. It just depends on how many "priority" calls they get that day. He also said there are several tow companies working that lot. So assuming "several" is 3 or 4 tow trucks then you might see anywhere from zero trucks towed or as many as 30-40 in a given day. I didnt ask if he was towing for the land owners or for GPD. He did say he towed the same truck twice in a week though.

So thats what I know and I feel pretty comfortable with the sources.

Thank you all for the updates.

Just after 5pm today I saw Garland PD clearing that lot so they are in fact making people leave and may be issuing tickets as well. Saw it with my own eyes.

if there are no trespassing signs an it is private property why would you think it is ok to enter private property without permission.