More than half the $1 billion Dallas voters approved for public improvements in a 2017 bond referendum has gone unspent according to a briefing presented to the Dallas City Council Wednesday.
The Dallas City Manager originally promised to execute the program over a 5-year period.
The program was reduced by $132 million in 2020.
Of the remaining funds, 83% are committed to projects and just 49% have been spent.
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The goal for at least scheduling all the money is now September 2023 instead of September 2022.
People at Klyde Warren Park Wednesday who voted for the bond package were disappointed to hear most of the money is unspent.
“I do wonder why they take so long to move. I know there’s a lot of process with maybe funding and all that stuff. They invite us out to give opinions and maybe not enough people are giving opinions. But they take their time, don’t they,” park visitor Sophia Torres said.
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One of four big projects detailed for City Council members Wednesday to help explain the situation is the expansion of Klyde Warren Park.
Park vendor Marisa Diotalevi said she is all for the park expansion and unhappy about delays.
“It’s not satisfactory to me. I understand there are probably things that keep things from happening quicker but it’s disappointing, that’s for sure,” she said.
All four of the projects mentioned require money from multiple sources in addition to a share of the 2017 bond funds.
Bids for the $100 million Klyde Warren Park expansion came in over budget this month so the project is on hold pending review by engineers.
The city’s second park over a freeway will be the $83 million phase one of the Southern Gateway Deck Park project over I-35E R.L.Thornton Freeway near the Dallas Zoo.
Construction of the bridge structure is currently underway between Ewing Street and Lancaster Avenue.
“It’s a great project and I’m concerned to make sure that we have funding to complete the gateway,” City Councilman Tennell Atkins said.
Officials said another $50 million may be needed for some park features and the second phase of that park.
“The Southern Gateway Deck Park is going to open up incredible economic development opportunities, so with the adjacent property owners would be some of the discussions into the future,” Assistant Dallas City Manager Majed Al Ghafry said.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Council is supplying $41 million of the $83 million for phase one.
NCTCOG Transportation Director Michael Morris discussed the partnership effort.
“We have taken a chain of steps. We’re going to build the pedestrian cap with the things on top,” Morris said. “We put things on top of phase one before we worry about building phase two.”
Morris said other projects are in the works in Southern Dallas to complement benefits from the deck park.
“We do not believe that a Southern Gateway and pedestrian cap is the minimum amount of public investment to turn around the southern sector. We have dozens of other projects that we’re implementing,” Morris said.
A $21 million two-way conversion of one-way McKinney Avenue and Cole Street and a $33 million reconstruction of Harry Hines Boulevard in the Dallas Southwestern Medical District are the other two large projects mentioned that rely on multiple funding sources.
City Councilman Jesse Moreno said he is pleased about the Harry Hines upgrade to better serve employees walking in the medical district.
“With ambulances crossing, making sure that they get to the hospital on time, making sure that they’re being safe, when you walk down Harry Hines, it’s hard to cross mid-block,” Moreno said.
Klyde Warren Park visitor Amanda Rockhold said many Dallas streets deserve urgent attention.
“I don’t know why it takes so long,” she said. “I have hit so many potholes and manholes and it feels like the tire is just going to smash.”
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, who now serves on the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Council said she has learned about the efforts for transportation funding from multiple sources and the complicated formulas to develop solutions for big projects.
“I just really never had this appreciation before when I was on council of what’s happening behind the scenes to make it happen,” Mendelsohn said. “And I just want to say let’s do more of this.”
Officials said COVID-19 is part of the reason for the delay. But a big infusion of federal COVID-19 relief money also helped fund some city of Dallas projects that might otherwise have relied on bond money.
