The Jefferson and Houston viaduct community meeting held Friday, May 15, at the Eloise Lundy Recreation Center. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
City officials met with community members on Friday, May 15 to present an update regarding the revised traffic plan for the Jefferson Boulevard and Houston Street Viaducts. The meeting was scheduled ahead of Tuesday’s Special Called Transportation & Infrastructure Committee meeting to answer questions and gain community feedback regarding the proposal.
The plan for the Jefferson and Houston Viaducts has been in limbo since the presentation to the committee in March regarding a shift in plans for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The city lowered the design of the convention center to save $500 million, and with the updated design, terminated the current Jefferson Street entry point to downtown at Hotel Street.
Additionally, Assistant City Manager Dev Rastogi said that the city was required to move the convention center to accommodate the existing plans Texas Department of Transportation and Union Pacific Railroad tracks, thus the center’s move into the current path of the Jefferson Viaduct.
At the Friday meeting, city officials presented a new proposal for rerouting traffic to dozens of neighbors at the Eloise Lundy Recreation Center. Audience feedback included frustration with the new proposed plan and with the presentation being shown on a small television at the front of the gym. District 1 City Council member Chad West and District 4 City Council member Maxie Johnson jointly held the meeting, both expressing their concerns about the proposed plan.
“I do not support any plan that takes away access from southern Dallas, period,” Johnson said at Friday’s meeting.
Dev Rastogi, Assistant City Manager, presenting at the May 15 community meeting regarding the Jefferson and Houston viaducts. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The new proposed plan brings vehicle use back to both the Houston and Jefferson Viaducts. Instead of exiting to Hotel Street, the Jefferson Viaduct could reroute through what is called the north connector. The north connector is located on the Downtown end of the viaducts and would connect two-way traffic to Houston Street.
This takes away the non-vehicle planned pedestrian, bike, and streetcar Houston Viaduct that was based on the recommendations of the Oak Farms Transportation Corridor Study. Previously, only the Jefferson Viaduct was planned to include two lanes southbound and two lanes northbound for vehicles.
Rebekah Kornblum, president of the Dallas Bicycle Coalition, raised concerns about the focus on vehicles with the proposal at Friday’s meeting.
“My main goal is for a safe and accessible biking option to be available between Oak Cliff and downtown,” she said. “And none of the options presented do that except having the Houston greenway. And there are four or five different ways to drive from Oak Cliff to Downtown. There is currently no option to bike or walk or run into Downtown from Oak Cliff without one of the viaducts.”
The new proposed plan will be presented to City Council members at the special-called committee meeting Tuesday, May 19 at 9 a.m. at Dallas City Hall.
