If you haven’t read D Magazine‘s most recent article on the Trinity Toll Road, go out and buy the August issue — the one with Dirk on the cover — right now.  I’ll wait.

Ok, you’re too lazy (or cheap) for that, I get it.  Go the freebie route instead:  Head on over to D’s website and check out this bit of amazement:  “Let’s Ditch the Trinity River Toll Road:  It’s time to get on with a new plan for the park project we were promised.”

You read that right.  You were expecting maybe “Let’s Keep Hoping and Wishing for the Trinity Toll Road:  It Just Might Happen,” but no, D Magazine threw us all a curve ball.  Instead we got four solid reasons to abandon the road and get moving on the park:

1.  The Trinity Project’s funding does not depend on the toll road.

2. There’s no money to build it.

3.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is never going to approve it.

4.  Highways are bad for cities.

The piece is very well written by new D scribe Michael Mooney.  (And no, I don’t just say that because he wrote “Hunt has been right all along when it comes to the toll road.”  But that particular line was particularly well written.  Kudos, Mike.)  The only thing missing was an acknowledgment that The Dallas Observer‘s Jim Schutze has been right about the road since it was first proposed, but that may have been too much to ask for.

I know Jim and Buzz at The Observer are not as enthusiastic about this article as I am — noting that it didn’t come from publisher Wick Allison hisownself and there was no mea maxima culpa – but that didn’t bother me and here’s why:  This position represents a profound sea change for D Magazine.  D has long been one of the primary cheerleaders for this road and a good barometer for the powers-that-be.  If D is confident enough to take this unequivocal stand, that means the support for this road has all but evaporated.

Now, according to D, we should look at modern transportation alternatives and get moving on the park:

Scrapping the road won’t speed up the parks and the lakes. Nor will it delay them. And there’s good news: because the original bond involved so many aspects of development, the money that remains can be redirected to other parts of the project. It can be used to get a fresh, 21st-century take on better transportation options.

History will show that the vote to build this toll road was a mistake. An expensive error, sure, but hardly the city’s worst. Now it’s time to move on.

I couldn’t agree more.

The worst area on Lemmon is between the toll road and Inwood, which has tons of terrible potholes, one after another, which have been exacerbated by recent weather. (It’s not that it’s smooth as silk elsewhere; it’s just particularly bad on this section.)

Crews are working on filling literally hundreds of potholes on Lemmon, and they anticipate it’ll take a week or longer to finish. I’ll be monitoring.

This morning’s Bike to City Hall event — part of Dallas’ week-long bicycling event, Cyclesomatic — was a great success!  I was worried it was going to rain and have to be postponed, but luckily, the weather agreed with us, and we had a terrific turn-out.

My husband and I biked from our home in the M Streets, down the Katy Trail (where we met others heading to City Hall), then met with the larger group at Union Station.  There were well over a hundred cyclists, from road warriors to slow riders to everyone in between.  Bicyclists came from East Dallas, Oak Cliff, Plano, Uptown, University Park, and elsewhere.  Five other councilmembers joined in the fun — Pauline Medrano, Sheffie Kadane, Jerry Allen, Dave Neumann, Delia Jasso, and Ann Margolin.

At around 8:30 a.m., we rode from Union Station to City Hall, where our master of ceremonies, Jason Roberts, thanked everyone for coming.  All the councilmembers welcomed the group to City Hall and discussed the importance of creating a more bicycle-friendly city via better infrastructure and education.

I mentioned the city’s new bike plan update as well as our complete streets initiative, to create a multi-modal infrastructure that isn’t solely focused on moving cars, but is rebalanced to move cyclists, pedestrians, and the disabled in an inviting, safe way.

We also reassured our road warrior friends that separated bike facilities would not force cyclists to ride there: cyclists who feel comfortable in traffic will continue to have that option.  We just want to expand options for folks who may have a different tolerance and comfort level in traffic.  It’s all about options, education, safety, and better infrastructure.

My hat is off to Jason Roberts and his team who did an amazing job planning this event.  I look forward to seeing everyone next year, as we begin to transform Dallas from one of the worst cities for cyclists into one of the best.

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures!

Dallas currently has the dubious distinction of being the “Worst City in the US for Bicycling,” but we’re working to change that.  Join me on Wednesday, October 7 as we “Bike to City Hall” and unveil some of the initiatives that will help transform our city into a bike-friendly destination.

The City of Dallas, in cooperation with DART, the City Parks Department, and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff invites everyone to bicycle to City Hall to promote greater bicycle awareness on the morning of October 7.  Councilmembers will leave from Union Station at 8AM and bicycle down Young Street to City Hall. Meet up with me at Union Station so we can ride together.

Afterward, we’ll introduce the city’s new bicycle coordinator, update everyone on the city’s new bike plan, and unveil upcoming initiatives that embrace Complete Streets policies. Complete Streets are streets designed to provide safe access for all users — not just cars. Developing multi-modal streets improves safety, eases transportation flow, improves air quality, and promotes the overall health of communities that have adopted them.

Please join me and pass this on to bicycling groups that may be interested in participating.

Trinity Parkway Public Comment Period Extended

Plano, TX – The public comment period on the Trinity Parkway has been extended until June 30 to allow more time for the public to review and comment on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS). The Federal Highway Administration made this decision after they received requests for extensions at and after the Trinity Parkway public hearing held on May 5.

The public comment period is a stage of the environmental review process when the comments are sought from the general public about the project. Initially, the public comment period was scheduled to end on May 15.

Written comments may be submitted via mail to:
NTTA, Attn: Corridor Manager
Re: Trinity Parkway Project
P.O. Box 260729
Plano, TX, 75026

Written comments also will be accepted by e-mail at trinityparkway@ntta.org. All comments must be received or postmarked on or before Tuesday, June 30, 2009, to be included in the public hearing record.

Those interested in reviewing the SDEIS can do so on-line at http://www.ntta.org/AboutUs/Projects/TrinityParkway.htm.

The part of Central Expressway we’re talking about is not the elevated portion, but the part that is a city street in Downtown. From Commerce to the Farmers Market, Central is a nice two-way boulevard with a green, treed median. But from Commerce to Live Oak, the street narrows and becomes one-way, creating a complicated and arguably dangerous entry to Downtown.

The new alignment will remove part of Pearl Street that divides a Downtown park, and widen Central to create a two-way boulevard. Rather than moving forward with the proposed alignment (which was 9 lanes of concrete), I asked Downtown Dallas and Larry Good to help redesign the road to make it greener and more pedestrian-friendly. Thanks to their help, we now have a better entry to Downtown, and an expanded park.

	[mappress]

Councilmember Koop and I traveled to Portland and Seattle last weekend to tour each city’s streetcar system and bicycle infrastructure. Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez (who oversees economic development) and Jay Kline (DART’s streetcar coordinator) joined us.

STREETCARS
Both cities have used streetcars as economic catalysts, allowing considerable mixed-use development in depressed areas. The Pearl District in Portland is a great example. Only a few years ago, it was a run-down, crime-ridden warehouse district. Today, it’s a vibrant, clean, mixed-use community with businesses and residences.

Seattle just invested in its first streetcar line, working to accomplish the same thing Portland did. So far, the investment is paying dividends, with a billion dollars of investment popping up along the line.

The streetcar tool can be used in the same way in Dallas. We just have to figure out a way to fund it. I think a Tax Increment Financing District is on the right track, but TIFs have to generate money via economic growth in order to throw off future dollars. And “future” is the key. We need some start-up money NOW to get the line(s) rolling (so to speak), and that really can’t be TIF dollars since those are future dollars. We’re currently working on how we can structure this, but I think we’ve got some real buy-in now that our folks have gotten to talk with out-of-town developers who have created remarkable growth in other cities, and whose developments would not have existed but for the streetcar lines.

BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE

Both cities have made significant investments in their bicycle infrastructure. As Dallas becomes more dense, we need to do the same thing. Portland and Seattle recognize that there are different levels of riders, a small percentage who’ll ride anywhere (they’d ride on Central if they could) and at the other end of the spectrum, those who won’t ride anywhere, for any reason. In the middle, there’s a large percentage of people who would ride if there were some level of protection or distance from cars. Portland and Seattle have worked to accommodate both the confident riders and those who want a little more protection. As Dallas moves forward on updating its bike plan (Sheffie and I are chairs), we will explore these different options, and hopefully do some demonstration areas.

I’ll have pictures up later today….

Please help improve this ordinance by taking part in an upcoming public meeting:

April 20, 2009
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla, L1/F/North Auditorium

I don’t know why this was scheduled during the day (I hold most if not all public meetings at night to accommodate working people), but maybe a daytime meeting works alright for most people. If you attend the meeting, I welcome your input about whether it was productive.

In the editorial, I recommend we close the I-635 loop on the west side of the city by linking the western portion of Loop 12 to I-20. A couple of folks were quick to point out the fact that Loop 12 already connects to I-20 via Spur 408.

They are correct, of course, but I was proposing a different route, one along Walton Walker Boulevard. The original editorial I sent to the Dallas Morning News was nearly a thousand words, which they kindly informed me was too long by a mere 400 words. I spent a couple of hours chopping away, trying to keep the same basic premise without losing the gist of my points, and came in right at their maximum. In the original editorial I sent them, I more thoroughly described the connection:

“Complete the 635 Loop by connecting I-20 with Walton Walker and the western portion of Loop 12. This will give inland port and NAFTA Trade Corridor traffic a simpler, faster route around Downtown instead of through it.”

I decided to remove the Walton Walker reference for brevity’s sake, assuming it was clear that the missing link I was proposing was an eastern route connecting Loop 12 to I-20, not a western route that already existed. Now I realize I should have kept in those three words for clarity.

Another edit from the original editorial had to do with the nature of our proposed Trinity Park:

“Making the Trinity an amazing place for people to gather isn’t about building a white water rafting course or constructing iconic bridges. It’s about creating great access to an already remarkable swath of greenspace. If we focus on creating entry points to the park, people – and adjacent development – will come.”

Today, the only way I know of to get to the park from the Downtown side is from Sylvan Ave. We could build all the lakes in the world down there, but without access, the park will remain as vacant as it is today (save for Crow Park at Sylvan Avenue). The park is already amazing as it is. The lakes will add to that. But in the meantime, all we need to do is add the planned trails, put in vehicular ramps and parking areas, and create pedestrian and bicycle linkages. That will go a long way towards opening up the park.

Join me at a Dallas City Council meeting five years from now:

It’s 2014. Under Mayor Tom Leppert’s plan, the Trinity toll road should have opened last year, but its construction hasn’t even begun. It remains mired in federal safety analyses due to concerns about its effect on Dallas’ levees. The North Texas Tollway Authority bowed out in early 2011 when it determined it could not fund the now $2.4 billion project.

City staff reluctantly informs the council and mayor that there is no way to bridge the enormous funding gap. The buckets of money once touted to finance the road have been spent on other more critical transportation needs in the region. Less than half of the city’s $84 million in bond funds for the road remains.

Trinity levee improvements have not been completed. Not a shovel of dirt has been turned to bring the Trinity Park to life, and no lakes exist within the floodway. Now that plans for the park have been all but scrapped, the residential and mixed-use developments once planned along Industrial Boulevard have been abandoned.

The city manager chooses her words carefully, but the meaning is clear: The Trinity toll road is dead. With millions of taxpayer dollars and years of staff time wasted, the city must now reconcile itself to nearly two decades without a park, without levee enhancements and without traffic improvements.

That is our future, unless we act now. Before wasting another minute or spending another dime on what has clearly become an unworkable route, we can chart a new course. It’s time to implement a new plan – Plan B – premised on eliminating the toll road from the Trinity River floodway. Rather than continuing on a course that promises more delay and uncertainty, Plan B will allow us to move forward.

Here is my vision for Plan B:

1. Flood control

• Fix our levees without further delay.

2. Transportation

• Move forward immediately with TxDOT’s Project Pegasus, which will help unsnarl traffic in the Mixmaster and Canyon.

• Fix Dead Man’s Curve in South Dallas and transform S.M. Wright into a beautiful boulevard.

• Complete the Interstate 635 loop by connecting Interstate 20 with the western portion of Loop 12. This will give the Inland Port and NAFTA Trade Corridor traffic a simpler, faster route around downtown instead of through it.

• Expedite mass transit alternatives that get cars off our congested downtown freeways. Work with DART to create additional light rail routes.

3. Trinity Park

• Proceed with federal approval for the park lakes and quickly construct the planned trails.

• Open it to residents by creating safe, protected pedestrian and bicycle routes to the park from downtown and Oak Cliff. Construct planned parking facilities in and near the park.

We can no longer allow the toll road’s delay and uncertainty to prevent Dallas from moving forward in addressing our transportation and flood control needs and in fulfilling the promise of a great park. Plan B will allow us to finally realize the dream of the Trinity River project.

Some city leaders refuse to acknowledge the need for Plan B, dismissing concerns about the toll road as defeatist. This approach appears less and less prudent as problems with the toll road compound and its billion-dollar funding gap grows.

I hope our city leadership will recognize the need to chart a new course, one that fulfills promises rather than defers them. We owe it to Dallas residents who have begun to lose faith in this project and our city government. Much has changed since the toll road referendum, and I’m ready to work with the mayor and the rest of the council to begin Plan B today.

Together, we can finally get the dirt flying on the Trinity River project.