More than three-quarters of people living in Dallas are not satisfied with the quality of roads in the city, according to a recent poll conducted by The Dallas Express.
Respondents were asked to rate the roads on a scale from 1 to 10 after being prompted with the question: “In the last 30 days, how satisfied have you been with the condition of roads in the City of Dallas?”
Nearly 77% of residents gave the quality of roads and streets in the city a “5” or lower, while only 33% registered a “6” or higher. Significantly, roughly 30% of respondents gave the roads the lowest ranking possible, while only 1% gave them a 10 out of 10.
Additionally, when presented with the proposition that the City is doing enough to maintain Dallas’ roads, fewer than 8% of respondents agreed, while nearly 73% disagreed. Just over 18% said they were neutral or unsure.
In the proposed City budget for fiscal year 2024, the Public Works Department was initially allocated nearly $90 million in taxpayer funds for its total expenses, with nearly all of the figure dedicated to street maintenance contracts and general street operations.
During the amendment process, nearly $612,000 was moved from the City’s communication budget to the street maintenance fund, but then $525,000 of that was shifted away to pay for after-hours veterinarian services, code compliance, and human resources.
An additional $2.5 million was then added to pay for more street maintenance and resurfacing, but that came only after City officials pulled $3.1 million from the police budget and $1 million from the IT governance committee.
The Dallas Police Department is currently operating with fewer than 3,200 officers, even though a City analysis previously recommended a city of Dallas’ size needs around 4,000 officers.
Nevertheless, progress on long-term street projects has been noticeably slow, leading City officials to place the blame on things outside of their control.
Public Works Director Ali Hatefi suggested that the poor road conditions were the result of the COVID-19 pandemic during a recent committee meeting.
“2021 and 2022 were the years we were struggling because of the pandemic, because of the shortage of the concrete and all these problems that we had,” he claimed, per NBC 5 DFW.
Furthermore, Assistant Dallas City Manager Robert Perez suggested that the weather also played a role.
“Every year when you get into the winter, colder months, more rain, construction slows down,” he said. “And in the summer, spring and summer, when you have warmer months, less rain, is typically when you see a major increase in construction activity.”
Still, Dallas drivers must use the roads come rain or shine.