Dallas leaders got their first look Wednesday at the latest plans for the replacement of the controversial I-345 freeway.
The roadway is not labeled I-345 but it is the elevated highway connecting I-45 with US 75 Central Expressway sitting in between Downtown Dallas and Deep Ellum.
After years of debate with supporters of removing the freeway to reconnect divided neighborhoods the hybrid option recommended by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) suggests a submerged freeway in a trench with cross streets on bridges overhead, similar to the Central Expressway design in Dallas.
New renderings Wednesday showed the possibility of deck parks and new buildings constructed over the depressed roadway.
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Ceason Clements, TxDOT Dallas District Engineer, said 17 acres of land and capping space would become available with the plan.
Some city council members Wednesday evening argued that replacing the freeway with a surface-level boulevard instead offers a larger 25 acres of redevelopment space.
Councilman Chad West said transportation planners are missing the boat.
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“The boulevarding would allow for more parks and open space, for more economic development and housing,” West said. “This is a decision that’s going to affect our city for the next 100 years, so we’ve got to be very thoughtful about what we decide today and move forward.”
Councilman Paul Ridley agreed with West.
“This is much more than a transportation solution. It’s a major investment in the future of our city and I think we need to take the time to study those other aspects,” Ridley said.
Michael Morris, Regional Transportation Director with the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said the reduction in roadway capacity and disparate impact on users of the existing freeway by removing it would not comply with federal transportation and civil rights laws.
“When you have a disparate impact you have to make sure you are balancing those benefits and burdens. You have not done that in the severing of the transportation corridor option. So I don’t think in the real world you would ever get through the courts with the ability of building that particular option,” Morris said. “I would make sure you explore your legal ability to build every option because we contend severing of a freeway facility cannot be constructed under federal rules.”
Morris said the hybrid option is the best approach to increase redevelopment opportunities and maintain transportation capacity.
Neighbors in Deep Ellum Wednesday had mixed feelings about replacing the elevated freeway.
Resident Danielle Gibbemeyer said she walks her dog under the roadway and has no problem with the location between downtown and Deep Ellum.
“I kind of like the separation, two different areas to hang out and go out with friends, so I don’t mind the separation,” she said.
Stephanie Keller Hudiburg, Executive Director of the Deep Ellum Foundation, said her group favors immediate improvement in areas under the elevated highway with funds that are available now. Her foundation favors the compromise approach with some adjustments.
“Figuring out how to program that land that’s currently being used for the highway is an opportunity to help re-stitch downtown and Deep Ellum back together,” she said.
The new below-ground option could cost over $1 billion. Completion is years away. However, the TxDOT people said maintenance costs of the aging highway are rising and a solution is needed.
