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Major changes are on the horizon for the freeways encircling Downtown Dallas, particularly in the southern and eastern sectors. As a result, transportation planners are focusing on establishing connections in these directions, including links to Dallas Fair Park through the Deep Ellum and South Dallas neighborhoods.
A comprehensive presentation featuring various options will be held at the South Dallas Cultural Center, located at 3400 South Fitzhugh Avenue, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, starting at 6 p.m.
Michael Morris, the Regional Transportation Director at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, expressed long-standing interest in Fair Park connections and believes that now is the opportune moment to realize these plans.
“We have a very extensive presentation to the public tonight on lots of different thoroughfare street, transit, goods movement, bike-ped connections, Fair Park through Deep Ellum to Downtown. It’s really exciting,” Morris commented.
The ongoing construction work on Martin Luther King Boulevard offers a preview of what may become more commonplace in the future. MLK is undergoing reconstruction alongside the removal of the old S.M. Wright Highway 175 Freeway, which previously divided residential streets and displaced homes.
Forest Forward, a foundation, is also working to restore and reopen the Forest Theater at MLK and the old highway intersection. Additionally, new surface streets will be developed adjacent to the new downtown freeways to reconnect neighborhoods separated by the construction of highways in the 1950s and 1960s.
Plans include expanding and reconstructing the entire I-30 Canyon with a deck park crossing over it near the new Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The elevated I-345 freeway, which currently separates downtown from Deep Ellum, will be depressed below grade level with new cross streets above.
The focus of the recent discussion is extending transportation links to and around Fair Park. Morris hopes that public sector investments in ground transportation will catalyze increased public and private sector investments in the community.
Business owners in the affected neighborhoods welcome the transportation improvements as they could enhance quality of life and boost property values. Nicole Sternes, the owner of Southside Steaks and Cakes, highlighted the importance of involving local residents in the decision-making process regarding transportation changes.
Planners sought input from the community at the Tuesday night meeting and online.