Nov 7, 2007 7:29 pm US/Central
Est. Start Date For Trinity River Project Is 2010
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The Trinity River tollway project in Dallas is a go.
In Tuesday's election, more than 40,000 people voted 'no' to stopping the progression of the project and the 6-lane toll road.
"The voters have now said not once, but twice, 'Get this project done,'" said former Dallas City Councilman Ed Oakley. He helped shepherd the Trinity Project for years as former chair of the Trinity River Corridor Committee.
Since the tollway will be built along the Trinity River levees, the proposal was really about a flood control project. The toll road and the park vied for second billing.
A staunch tollway supporter, the current chair of the Trinity River Corridor Committee admits strengthening and raising the levees is the first job.
"Don't let anyone fool you, our number one priority is flood control," said Councilmember Dave Neumann.
"This has been a floodway for 60 plus years, so we just think about it as a drainage ditch," said Oakley. "We're going to change that. It is going to become our front door."
Though the tollway will ease traffic congestion from Irving to Oak Cliff, the best hope for construction is sometime after 2010.
"We're going through the environmental impact study, both with the corps and the NTTA, at this time and hope to get their bye in 2008 or 2009," said Neumann.
The corps he is referring to is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The organization is responsible for a hydrology report and an environmental impact study. Those reports will probably be ready in mid-2008.
The North Texas Tollway Authority must also conduct an environmental impact study, identify a preferred route, and determine the economic viability of the project.
The project must also get the blessing of the Federal Highway Administration.
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert cautioned the dirt won't actually be flying in earnest for years.
"I think the tollway is clearly going to be a couple of years away," said Mayor Leppert at a post-election debriefing.
"We're going to have to go through planning and design," the mayor continued. "Hopefully by 2009, we'll have the planning and design done and move forward with construction in 2010."
That date is separate from any park or economic development projects.
"We're also going to start expediting the design of the park, design of the amenities, the attributes and the aesthetics of the parkway," said Neumann. "We will make sure we have inward pointing lighting towards the parkway, as opposed to lighting that would disrupt the park."
"This started out as a road project," said Oakley. "The lakes, the trails, the southern sector amenities, the interpretive center, the Audubon Center… all these were added as a trade off if the road went inside the levees."
Oakley promises it'll be worth the wait.
"This is going to unleash $5 billion worth of projects inside Loop 12 for Downtown Dallas, including solving the second worst intersection in this country, and that's the canyon and Mixmaster," said Oakley.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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