Road crews and orange cones along West 12th Street in Oak Cliff are a welcome sight to many neighbors who've been seeing red for years.
"Every house next to me on the corners, like two corners that way and two corners that way, has been hit," Audrey Atkins said.
For homeowners and parents like Atkins, street racing problems have been a major concern.
"We hear that sound of the screeching eeeeee.. and we constantly run to the other side of the house," she said.
After months of meetings with city leaders, an effort to slow speeders is finally underway.
"It feels awesome," Atkins said.
Last September, NBC 5 drove the nearly three-quarter-mile stretch from Edgefield Avenue to Hampton Road without a stop light, and spoke with a grandfather whose front yard fence was just mowed down.
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His house was one of many recently hit by cars along 12th Street. Just last month, a student walking home from Greiner Middle School was injured too. Atkins saw the ambulance about a block from her home.
"We pulled up to all the emergency vehicles right here and a little boy had been hit and he was bleeding," she said.
Within days, construction work began. The city is now implementing a "road diet" between Edgefield Avenue and Hampton Road, reducing the number of lanes from four to three, with a two-way left turn lane.
"All my neighbors are just thrilled that something's finally being done," Atkins said.
Digital speed signs are also going up. And while she said a few locals have complained about a longer commute, the majority have been fighting to keep kids safe.
"The safer we can make it for them, the more of a community, pedestrian friendly neighborhood we can have," Atkins said.
As for the timeline, construction is expected to run through June. The transportation department will then decide if more traffic studies are needed.
