As 1999 came to a close, Dallas affirmed a commitment to being a livable, connected city. The moment was the completion of a long and difficult reconstruction of Central Expressway that saw a major stretch of the state highway placed below grade to reconnect some of Dallas’ neighborhoods.
As a principal at the consulting firm Allyn who was involved in this significant effort, I see this 25th anniversary as a crucial moment to build on that achievement. We must embrace the original vision of that project, moving beyond simply fixing highways to actively building people-first, multimodal transportation networks that define our city’s next chapter.
The choice Dallas made at the end of the 20th century was between two proposals: a towering double-decker highway that would further sever our urban core, or a solution that connected neighborhoods. We chose the latter.
This colossal $750 million project was steered by civic leader Walt Humann and the North Central Task Force. Humann’s consensus-driven leadership, which also helped bring DART to fruition nearly 15 years before Central’s completion, was built on a simple, essential principle: Infrastructure should put the way people, and the way we actually live, first. Not cars, but people. Sure, the cars move faster, but the ultimate goal was to ensure a unified, multimodal transportation system for the next century.
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The result was extraordinary. While cities like Austin are now planning significant highway transformations, Dallas successfully completed a reimagining of Central Expressway decades ago. The below-grade highway successfully connected our neighborhoods and has led to a flowering of a part of Dallas that could not have happened had the plan for an elevated freeway been embraced.
Dallas proved that collaboration, vision, scale and an insistence on putting people first can deliver lasting change. The physical effort — the amount of dirt moved for the project was the equivalent of one 25-gallon barrel for every U.S. citizen — was matched by a massive political effort involving the city of Dallas, TxDOT, DART and thousands of civic leaders. This commitment to consensus-building is our playbook for the future.
Today, the North Central Corridor serves as a powerful reminder: the biggest wins are those that prioritize people. We see this principle echoing in crucial current work, including efforts to address the division caused by U.S. Highway 175 in southern Dallas. That highway historically separated neighborhoods in Pleasant Grove. Now, projects spearheaded by The Loop Dallas in partnership with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department aim to heal that division through green infrastructure.
We should extend that multimodal design philosophy into a fully integrated network that gives residents true choices beyond the car.
- Elevating bikeability: We must aggressively increase our investment in protected bike lanes and trails, stitching together our urban core and suburbs. Bike-ability is a vital component of a resilient, modern city.
- Integrating DART: We must enhance the seamless integration between DART rail and bus lines, ensuring that transit is reliable, convenient and accessible for all.
- Accelerating bus rapid transit: Investing in dedicated bus corridors will provide the high-frequency, high-speed regional service necessary to support our population growth.
The landscaping along the North Central Corridor, now mature with 1,500 trees and 3,500 shrubs, symbolizes the deep roots of this well-planned investment. As we look toward the next 25 years, that triumph should inspire us. We’ve done the visionary work of building a highway for the city; now, let’s build a transportation system by the city —one that truly puts quality of life for all Dallas residents first.
Jennifer Pascal is chief operating officer of Allyn.