A Wednesday briefing on the Dallas City Council’s 2023 transportation priorities was canceled due to a network outage, but mobility hasn’t slowed on plans for an independent study on Interstate 345.
Experts with the American Institute of Architects Dallas entered the conversation last week, critiquing Texas Department of Transportation’s hybrid design, which they say is based on a “now-obsolete traffic study and growth projections.”
TxDOT announced in 2019 its intent to determine the best way to “address the needs of I-345 and the traveling public as they plan for current and future development.”
In a five-signature memo, the Dallas City Council is asking the highway department to slow its roll.
Council members Chad West, Paul Ridley, Jesse Moreno, Gay Donnell Willis, and Paula Blackmon filed a memo April 10 requesting the city manager commission an independent study on the impacts of removing Interstate 345.
Additional Study on I-345
The Texas Department of Transportation wants to trench the 1.4-mile highway between downtown and Deep Ellum, reconnecting existing streets with overhead bridges. Once TxDOT gets support from the council, it can start pursuing funding.
West told daltxrealestate.com he asked in his memo for the city manager to pump the brakes on signing a resolution of support.
“City staff and the Regional Transportation Council are all acting in lockstep supporting the TxDOT-driven alternative, the hybrid ‘trench’ option that would treat I-345 much like Woodall Rogers [Freeway], beneath the deck park,” West said. “This option reclaims some of the real estate around I-345 and also keeps cars moving downtown. It might very well be the best option, but the only study provided by staff to support this conclusion was designed by TxDOT to support TxDOT’s foregone conclusion.”
The councilman went on to say that the “foregone conclusion” was reached with input from traffic engineers, rather than economists, housing experts, environmentalists, or urban planners.
“My memo directs city staff to retain a consulting firm to analyze all options in conjunction with the city’s adopted policies such as Vision Zero [and] the Economic Development Policy,” West said. “I believe that we, as elected officials for Dallas, have a fiduciary duty to make our decision on this generational issue with independent data that considers the priorities of our city, and not just TxDOT.”
AIA Dallas Critique
A memo issued April 17 by AIA Dallas Executive Director Zaida Basora and Board president Kate Aoki commends the City Council for requesting further study on TxDOTs proposal.
The seven-page memo notes that the following items merit additional study in order to develop solutions that are more consistent with the City’s design guidelines:
- Width of open highway trench
- Elevated and obstructive interchanges and connections
- Development potential and land use
- Surface roadway network
- Pedestrian experience and connectivity
A structural critique of TxDOT’s preferred hybrid option includes the following commentary from Basora and Aoki:
“While a depressed roadway is an improvement from an elevated tangle of elevated highways and ramps, the proposed depressed highway continues to sustain physical and visual barriers between the downtown communities. According to preliminary road section drawings from TxDOT (section A-A at trenched portion), the highway trench appears to be over 180 feet wide – more expansive than the width of a football field. The proposed highway in several sections has 10 or more lanes, some with multi-level lanes, dividing the downtown and eastern neighborhoods even further.”
It’s unclear when the City of Dallas will make a move to address the council’s request for an independent study.
The discussion continues, West told constituents in an email update April 18.
“I would personally rather walk under the current raised highway than navigate this proposed mega-highway as a pedestrian,” the councilman wrote. “I have not heard the real estate and business community speak up on this issue and hope that they do so soon. The final plan that is ultimately selected will dictate the future of this corridor for the next 70-plus years.”
