Dallas Preston Center Study Nearing Completion

Northwest Highway Signal problem discovered!

A plan to make peace between developers, property owners and worried neighbors at Dallas Preston Center is nearing completion.

Planners working on the study discovered a signal light malfunction contributing to congestion near the office and retail district.

First developed around 1950, Preston Center at Preston Road and Northwest Highway has become a victim of its own success.

Rachel Pope works there.

“It’s busy and it’s just a good place to be. There’s so many choices. I like it. l like working here. It’s a good area,” she said.

The two level city parking garage at the center is often jammed, putting drivers in a slow crawl to find a space.

Lunchtime visitor Bobby Pullen found himself in the middle of it Wednesday.

preston center garage
NBC 5

“I actually targeted a little bit later hoping that I would get here and it would not be too bad,” Pullen said.

High-rise office buildings supply lunchtime customers for Preston Center restaurants. And Dallas leaders want more vertical density instead of sprawl as the city grows.

Cranes are already posted for new high rises at Preston Center. It worries long time neighbors.

“A lot of the residents were fearful of the impact it would have on traffic,” said Dallas Council Member Jennifer Gates.

She formed a task force to mediate a plan for the area.

“When things do redevelop, that needs to have neighborhood input and make sure that the redevelopment reflects what the community desires. And that’s exactly why we put this study together,” Gates said.

Planners with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) are supporting the work.

“The study recommends that we encourage more residential, because that has lesser impact on the transportation system,” said Karla Weaver with NCTCOG.

The planners figure people working in Preston Center offices could walk to new apartments already planned for the area. More homes could be added in the future.

Fixing the parking situation is another major goal.

“The grand vision would be to redevelop the site with an underground parking garage,” Gates said.

That garage might have a park on top of it and a tunnel to connect directly to Northwest Highway so cars would not crawl through the side streets.

“That has been talked about,” Gates said.

Visitors Wednesday said construction to put the garage underground could cause a bigger traffic nightmare.

“I wouldn’t want to have a business in this area during that time,” Pullen said.

“But I think in the end result it could be really cool to have a park,” said Pope.

In the meantime, the study is examining ways to quickly improve traffic flow on Northwest Highway.

Some minor intersection improvements are underway now and in the course of overseeing that work, planners learned the signals between North Central Expressway and the Dallas North Tollway were not synchronized to help traffic flow as intended.

“The pacing and the timing of them was completely off. There was no communication in the overall signal progression,” Weaver said. “I think people will see immediate improvement when those signals get fixed.”

Driver Bobby Pullen said he has noticed that problem for several years.

“They would have asked a few people. They could have figured that out a long time ago,” he said. “The lights are terrible here. You catch them red every time.”

Drainage improvements for an area along Northwest Highway east of Preston Road will also be part of the plan, Weaver said.

First expected to be finished this month, the task for study is still nearing completion.

Another public meeting about it is tentatively set for November 15 at a location yet to be confirmed.

The Dallas City Council could be asked to take action on steps to implement the plan when it is final.

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