Dallas city council members are expected to take up a proposed resolution Wednesday that will address the possible ramifications of tearing down Interstate 345, the elevated highway that connects US 75 Central Expressway to Interstates 30 and 45, just east of Downtown.
I-345 divides Downtown Dallas from Deep Ellum — each of which is thriving in its own right in recent years.
The resolution would call for a housing and economic development study that would look at alternative scenarios for I-345, specifically two that have been identified as the most viable options: Removing the highway and, instead, developing another route for the approximately 200,000 vehicles that travel the nearly 2-mile stretch daily, or digging down and putting 345 below grade.
Those two scenarios have been deemed to result in the “greatest estimated increase in net new property value, net new revenue, workforce housing and employment growth,” according to previous efforts by the city.
“In an effort to maximize positive outcomes, the City should perform its own workforce housing and economic impact analysis and plan for the 240 acres affected by the I-345 scenarios in collaboration and in coordination with TxDOT. To the extent these scenarios impact the City financially, the City has an interest in working jointly with TxDOT to evaluate cost reasonableness,” the resolution reads, in part.
In addition, the resolution, if passed, would include a request to TxDOT to build upon its previous analysis of this scenario and to provide Dallas with “an implementation plan to realize the corridor’s value proposition.”
