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.
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.
A public hearing on redrawing the boundaries of District 14 will be held this Thursday, May 5 at 7 P.M. at Resource Center Dallas in Oak Lawn. See you there!
Yesterday, I toured 1600 Pacific with owner Leobardo Trevino (who just purchased the Statler). The building had been vacant and in disrepair, and Leobardo bought it and cleaned it up — inside and out – in preparation of a multi-stage, total renovation. Pictures: http://bit.ly/dEn50r.
If you’ve never been inside one of Downtown’s vacant buildings, I can tell you that the ones I’ve seen are littered with old furniture, junk, and trash, and are generally in disarray. (The City has taken measures to require buildings be cleaned up.) While some property owners leave their property in shambles (trying to avoid the expense of clean-up and hoping that potential tenants can see past the debris and visualize their new space), Leobardo’s philosophy is that those looking for real estate are more inclined to purchase space if the building looks move-in ready. The difference in 1600 Pacific is striking: Looking at the before and after pictures reveals how significant his clean up was. MORE….
At DISD budget mtg. Parents/students worried abt teacher cuts. City needs 2 work more closely w DISD for better education/reduced costs. #fb –Tweeted #
"Art Under the Bridge" community mtgs to discuss improvemnts to Ross Ave./Central underpass Mar 3 & Apr 14 6:30-8pm Latino Cultural Ctr. #fb –Tweeted #
Grid situation improving but conservation still needed
Winter record expected Thursday morning; consumers asked to reduce energy consumption 6-9 am
ERCOT’s electricity demand peaked this evening at 56,334 MW between 7-8 pm – a new all-time record for winter peak demand. ERCOT’s previous record for all time winter peak demand is 55,878 MW, which occurred on Jan. 8, 2010.
Although the immediate concerns for the possibility of rotating outages this evening are reduced, ERCOT will still be monitoring the grid closely this evening because additional unexpected major losses of generation could force operators to proceed with emergency procedures to avoid an uncontrolled statewide blackout.
Another record demand expected Thursday morning
At this time, the forecast for tomorrow’s peak load is 56,800 MW which would break the record again. ERCOT is asking consumers to reduce energy consumption during peak-demand times from 6 – 9 am.
The grid continues to have more than 5,000 MW of generation out of service due to the effect of the extreme cold.
Rotating outages are controlled, temporary interruptions of electrical service initiated by each utility when supplies of reserve power are exhausted. Without this safety valve, generators would overload and begin shutting down to avoid damage, risking a domino effect of a state-wide outage.
Utilities/ transmission providers determine the location/scheduling of the rotating outages.
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved the Lower Greenville Plan. The presidents of all surrounding neighborhood associations showed up in support, along with long-time property owners and business owners.
The new permit requirement for businesses open past midnight takes effect in 8 months (giving business owners enough time to obtain a permit). The city will be holding an informational meeting soon to explain the process.
Streetscape improvements from Bell to Alta will start in July and take about 10 months.
Solutions to the Lower Greenville problem have eluded us for years, and it is only the unprecedented unity of support that has allowed us to develop a real plan to transform this area.
Special thanks go to all the neighbothood association presidents and community leaders who have worked so hard on this for over a year – Stephen Melendi, Pat Carr, Diana Souza, John Scarborough, Michelle Love, Will Short, Selena Urhquart, Ted Thompson, Darren Dattalo, Erica Jones, and Bruce Richardson.
A sincere thank you also goes to major property owners Marc and Roger Andres of Andres Properties as well as Susan Reese, Larry Vineyard, and Jon Hetzel of Madison Partners. The Reeses and Andreses have owned property here for decades and their support has been instrumental to the success of this plan. City attorneys John Rogers and Melissa Miles, along with DPD Chiefs Golbeck and Genovesi and Lt. Martinez have also been critical to this effort. And last but certainly not least, District 14 Plan Commissioner Bill Peterson did an exceptional job gaining his colleague’s unanimous support.
It has been a pleasure working with you all to improve Lower Greenville, especially my fellow Councilmember and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano who shares my passion for the area.
I look forward to the months to come as we transform Lower Greenville together!
I’m back! I have returned from maternity leave and attended my first City Council meeting last week. We’ve got a lot coming up on the agenda, not the least of which is a very challenging city budget and the Love Field concessions contract. More on these and other issues in the coming weeks.
BABY
Audrey Belle is doing great, though sleep has been hard to come by. THANK YOU to everyone who has sent us so many well-wishes!
BIKE PLAN
The city is updating its quarter-century old bike plan, and Councilmember Sheffie Kadane and I are co-chairing the committee overseeing the revamp. We held our first public meeting about the plan last week, and the turnout was amazing. The council chambers were overflowing as the bike plan consultant presented dozens of options for bicycle infrastructure.
I had met the lead consultant, Peter Lagerwey of Toole Design Group, last year when he was getting close to retiring as the bicycle program director for Seattle, where he oversaw the successful planning and implementation of their bike plan.
What impressed me most about Peter’s presentation last week was that he didn’t come to the first public meeting with an almost-finished bike plan for Dallas – one that the masses would be permitted to slightly tweak around the edges, allowing him to claim public input in a process rigged from the start. I’ve seen that type of Kabuki theater play out too often in government-sponsored projects where public input is supposedly invited but in reality given short shrift.
And apparently Peter has, too, since by way of contrast, he asked the audience if they’d ever been to meetings where they felt like the plan had already been written ahead of time ( lots of hands went up, including mine). Peter explained he wasn’t there to offer a plan at this point, but to show different infrastructure types that could be considered for our bike plan, and then get feedback from the public. He was very clear that this bike plan will be built from the ground up, with a focus on providing Dallasites with an infrastructure that meets our needs.
If you couldn’t be at the meeting last week, you’re in luck: Patrick Kennedy from Pegasus News was there and did an excellent summary. As he points out, the biggest challenge is whether the city will actually change our car-centered culture or just talk a good game. It’s fine to laud the concept of complete streets, but what happens when that means reducing car lanes to expand bicycle paths and the pedestrian realm? Do policy-makers and city staff have the courage to follow through?
Patrick hits the nail on the head when he warns self-congratulatory city leaders, “[L]et’s not count our chickens before the[y're] hatched. Will [policymakers] stand up to transpo or DOT when they shrilly scream, ‘OMG, we won’t hit level of service A if you remove that lane of traffic! We have arbitrary formulas that prove it!!!!’”
Policymakers and city staff will only be persuaded to create real complete streets with real bicycle infrastructure in Dallas (and not a failed, faux version) if they (1) learn how other cities have successfully made the transition from car-centric streets to ones that are bike- and ped-friendly, (2) understand how important complete streets are to our city’s future economic development (attacting the “creative class” and thus the companies that want to hire them), and (3) hear the public express a real interest in redefining our city to make it more liveable. On the last point, if a progressive bike plan and complete streets are important to you, please attend the next public meeting and make your voice heard (when we have a date, I’ll post it).
In the meantime, you can give your input via the Dallas Bike Plan website, which includes an interactive map and questionnaire (Peter’s presentation will be posted soon). And check out another great meeting recap by Daniel Rodrigue over at Unfair Park.
AWARDS
I was humbled to have received two awards right before I went on leave. First, Dallas Voice readers selected me as Dallas’ “Best City Council Person” for the third year in a row. Second, the League of Women Voters of Dallas honored me with the Virginia Macdonald Leadership Award, which is “given to a League member who has exhibited courage in working for change and who inspired leadership in others.”
Thank you so much to both Dallas Voice readers and Dallas’ League of Women Voters! I am deeply honored to have received these awards and will do my very best to continue to earn your support.
Wow.
