The City of Dallas is set to spend $27 million of taxpayer money on roadway and pedestrian safety initiatives in southern Dallas.
Most of the funding will come from a $21.8 million grant awarded to the City by the U.S. Department of Transportation, with the City of Dallas contributing $5.25 million, according to an announcement.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) handed City leaders a check for the funds during a presentation at the Forest Theater on January 5.
“Residents in Southern Dallas will directly benefit from these much-needed improvements,” said Council Member Adam Bazaldua (District 7). “Investment in our city’s infrastructure is critical to improving the vitality and vibrancy of our neighborhoods and communities.”
“The development brought in by this grant puts us one step closer to our goal for a corridor with a streetcar that will bring more accessible transportation to southern Dallas and ultimately work to raise the quality of life for those that call this community home,” he said.
The spending will aim to reduce crash rates and increase pedestrian safety along Martin Luther King Jr. and Cedar Crest Boulevards. The City noted that Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is one of the busiest roadways in Dallas due to its proximity to tourist destinations.
“I am extremely proud of this award and what this project will do for the surrounding community and pedestrian safety,” said City Manager T.C. Broadnax.
The project will include reducing lanes to lower speeds, improving sidewalks, and upgrading the lighting and traffic signals. The project aligns with the City’s Vision Zero Plan, which aims to eliminate traffic-related deaths and reduce crash injuries by 50% by 2030.
The Vision Zero plan aims to be data-driven in its initiatives, which include reducing speeds and prioritizing pedestrians and bicyclists to make Dallas streets safer.
A total of 661 pedestrians were injured in accidents while walking Dallas streets last year, and another 69 were killed, a 4.2% increase in pedestrian incidents from 2022, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation. Although crashes involving pedestrians only made up 2% of the nearly 30,000 vehicle accidents in Dallas last year, pedestrians accounted for 38% of the number killed and nearly 47% of the number injured, The Dallas Morning News reported.
In November, council members learned that of 40 action items approved for 2023, only nine had been finished. Seven items had not even been started, though the remaining 24 actions were in progress, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas City Council authorized a traffic study that month at a cost of nearly $750,000 to the taxpayers. The firm hired to conduct the study of three high-crash areas said the work would not be completed until October 2024.
Other projects included in the Vision Zero plan are improvements to road design, better signage, and increased traffic enforcement in areas that see high rates of crashes.
Vision Zero Texas leader Jay Blazek Crossley said the steps outlined in the plan were a good start, but lamented the lack of public information about the progress of the plan and the lack of involvement by many City departments. He added that one challenge is convincing drivers to change their behaviors.
“You’re going to have to convince a lot of people to give up driving fast and sitting in traffic longer for this to work,” Crossley said.
