TxDOT given green light to reconfigure I-345 in Dallas

Dallas - In a unanimous decision, the Dallas City Council, by a 14-0 tally, endorsed a TxDOT-backed "$1 billion hybrid trench" scheme to revamp I-345, Dallas Metro News reported. This extensive elevated freeway now acts as a partition between downtown Dallas and its easterly Deep Ellum neighborhood.

The strategy necessitates the dismantling of the 1.4-mile elevated freeway, beginning at the terminus of Highway 75. The new design envisions reconstructing it below ground level, capped with fresh street overpasses.

Despite its approval, the hybrid design has not satisfied everyone. A sizable number were hoping for a more visionary plan to entirely supplant I-345 with boulevards at surface level, facilitating a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly neighborhood ambiance. However, the Texas Department of Transportation has dismissed such an alternative. The DMN cites that this would noticeably prolong commute times and potentially result in civil rights breaches, as it impacts a crucial transit corridor between the southern and northern sections of Dallas.

“It’s not perfect,” Council Member Omar Narvaez said, according to the DMN. “But this motion takes us into that next phase, that next level that we need to do in order to get this design accurate and make sure that it’s right.”

In giving their unanimous endorsement, the city council established several stipulations. TxDOT is mandated to provide project status updates to a council committee semi-annually during the design phase. Furthermore, TxDOT is expected to integrate the city's racial equity blueprint and economic development strategy into the undertaking. TxDOT is also bound to explore alternatives for diverting truck traffic away from I-345.

The next stage is an environmental assessment. This process may span two years, meaning construction is not projected to commence until 2028 or 2029.