The NBC 5 investigative team has detailed dangerous Dallas roadways for months. Thursday, transportation planners gave an update at a town hall organized by a state senator.
Loop 12 stands as one of the most treacherous stretches of road. A dozen stretches of Loop 12 were identified as among the worst locations for traffic deaths and serious injuries in the city of Dallas.
In the Dr. Frederick D. Todd Middle School auditorium Thursday night, road officials gave some answers. The school sits along Ledbetter Drive, a dangerous section of Loop 12. The road was built in the 1950s as a freeway near the outskirts of Dallas according to Dallas District Engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation Ceason Clemons.
Clemons gave a presentation on the situation along Loop 12 and their next steps along with "Gus" Khankarli from the City of Dallas Transportation Department and Michael Morris from the North Central Texas Council Of Governments.
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Around thirty people who live nearby came to voice their concerns.
“A lot of African American, a lot of poor people live right here within this corridor. OK. So I think it’s been neglected," said Anthony Peterson, who lives along Loop 12. “You’re the experts. You guys make the final decisions and you make the big dollars. We expect you guys to make these hard decisions and get it right.”
In the past year, drivers killed five pedestrians in crashes along a one-mile stretch according to TxDOT data. Two more pedestrians were seriously injured in the past two months.
A 2022 study from the City of Dallas found the 12 worst sections of road were all on Loop 12. TxDOT crash data notes 479 serious injury crashes and 105 deadly crashes on Loop 12 in the past five years. The Loop circles the city and goes by many names on different sides of town. East of downtown its Buckner Boulevard. North of Love Field it's known as Northwest Highway. It's Walton Walker Boulevard going South through Irving. In Southern Dallas it's Ledbetter Drive.
Arthur Fleming's sister was killed in an accident where Ledbetter turns into Great Trinity Forest. Betty Sue Fleming was 77 when she died along the 2800 block of Ledbetter Drive. She was hit while walking across the street to the store. She did not cross at a cross walk. Arthur Fleming has tried to grab the attention of city planners for months.
Within a mile of where Betty Sue died, 11 other pedestrians were killed over the past decade.
“Y’all talking past each other. And again, Vision Zero has been going on for five years so I’m just trying to figure out what y’all been doing for five years, just kind of pointing at each other," said Fleming.
TxDOT district engineer Clemons gave a presentation where she said the conditions in Loop 12 are seen in other parts of the state. There hasn't been a single day since November 7th, 2000 where someone hasn't died on Texas roads, more than 88,000 people have died in crashes. One out of five are pedestrians, she said.
"These are stats that we're not proud of," said Clemons.
Clemons said those numbers have trended downward in the past few years but basic things like not wearing seatbelts, distracted driving and speeding cause thousands of crashes a year.
Speed, she said, is among the chief factors for Loop 12.
TxDOT has begun building sidewalks, higher visibility cross walks, and adding traffic signals said Clemons. Projects in the near future are between Webb Chapel to Starlight and Jim Miller to 175, she said. More lighting is "currently under design," she said.
During the question and answer portion of the event, Clemons from TxDOT said they're in the middle of a speed study determining if they need to lower the speed limit. They aim to work with city and regional officials to put in more traffic signals in the next twelve to eighteen months.
“That’s why we’re working with Gus. Maybe a pedestrian signal doesn’t make sense. Maybe we got to put a full signal," said Clemons, mentioning "Gus" Khankarli from the City of Dallas.
Clemons and Khankarli told the crowd they are reviewing bus routes with DART to consolidate or change bus stop locations so people don't jay walk to get to a bus stop.
"Engineering alone won't be able to address it. Enforcement alone won't address it. Education alone will not address it. It's a multi-pronged approach that we're taking," said Khankarli.
Two years ago, Dallas's Vision Zero safety plan names Ledbetter as one of the city's top five locations for pedestrian deaths and serious injuries.
The goal is to turn what was once a freeway into more of a city thoroughfare with more, safer, areas for people to walk and cross, said Clemons. That long-term project will be lengthy and they will be coming back for public input events in the months and years ahead.
Senator Royce West, D - Dallas, organized the town hall Thursday and plans on getting the same group together in the Fall for another update. By then, the planners told the crowd they hoped some new safety measures would be finished or at least further along the process. He sits as Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee in the Texas Senate and is on the Senate Finance Committee so he directly oversees the budget and policy of TxDOT.
Sen. West said he will push the transportation planners for results and, "make sure we have a timetable to come up with recommendations for dealing with this issue."
Hans-Michael Ruthe from DART was listed on the schedule to participate in the town hall but did not show up.
