The plans for the Jefferson and Houston viaducts had been panned by residents and Council members alike
DALLAS — City leaders unveiled a revised traffic plan for the Jefferson and Houston Street viaducts — the twin spans connecting Oak Cliff to Downtown Dallas— after residents and Council members panned the original proposal over concerns it could cut off the neighborhood from the downtown core.
The problem: the presentation to residents who gathered for a town hall Friday night at the Eloise Lundy Recreation Center gym was difficult to make out on a small, blurry television screen — leading confusion to mix with the existing atmosphere of frustration.
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The new plan, according to two Council members briefed ahead of time, would maintain vehicle traffic on both the Houston and Jefferson Street viaducts — and make both two-way, at least in part. It spikes the plan to close Houston Street to cars and adds a new bridge “connector” from Jefferson to Houston for vehicle traffic headed north from Oak Cliff into downtown, the council members said.
Original city plans had Jefferson Street terminating at Hotel Street — below the planned Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center site and on the wrong side of the railroad tracks from Downtown. The city said that change was necessary to shave $500 million off the cost of renovations to the convention center that would be incurred if the building was raised for the road to go beneath it.
The new “connector” would allow vehicle traffic from Oak Cliff toward Downtown to connect to Houston Street and enter the central business district in front of Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station — only a block west of the existing Jefferson Street connection.
Still, the new plan received a frosty reception from Oak Cliff residents and the politicians who represent them.
“That’s a vital bridge, it should not be tampered with,” said one woman in the crowd. “We are going to fight for our bridge.”
Both Council Members Chad West and Maxie Johnson reaffirmed they would not support any plans that cut off Oak Cliff from Downtown.
“I don’t love it. I don’t love any of the plans I’ve seen so far,” West said. “I don’t want to say I hate it, but I really, really dislike them.”
He urged city leaders to start over entirely — and consider all their options.
“Go back to the drawing board, listen to the community and come up with something that actually works. And if the convention center design needs to change, it needs to change. Period,” he told WFAA.
Other community members expressed frustration with the city’s new proposal for a different reason: it excludes the promised driverless “greenway” for pedestrian, streetcar and biker use on the Houston viaduct.
“My main goal is for a safe and accessible biking option to be available between Oak Cliff and Downtown, none of the options presented do that except having the Houston greenway.” said Dallas Bicycle Coalition board president Rebekah Kornblum.
“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,” she said.
The new proposal is set to be formally presented to City Council members at a special-called committee meeting Tuesday.