Federal funds are coming to help the city of Dallas address safety issues on the city's most dangerous streets for pedestrians.
On Wednesday, the White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced more than $21 million in federal infrastructure grants to improve portions of the roadway that would become Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Cedarcrest Boulevard.
The city plans to reshape the street that stretches west of Interstate 45 from Fair Park, reducing the number of lanes from five to four and using the extra space to accommodate pedestrians and traffic. The plan is to create a safer space for bicycles.
NBC 5 analyzed accident data from the Texas Department of Transportation. They found that at least six people died in traffic accidents in MLK within five years, from 2019 to 2023, and another 23 were seriously injured.
In recent years, the City of Dallas identified the stretch of MLK as the second most dangerous street in the entire city for pedestrians. The street has some faded crosswalks that are barely visible and lacks a median to protect pedestrians, with some pedestrians standing in the right turn lane in the middle of the road as they try to cross.
The city's plan to reduce the number of lanes is sometimes called a “road diet,” and is commonly used in European and Canadian cities to reduce speeds and reduce fatalities.
NBC 5 investigators went on a field trip to Edmonton, Canada, earlier this year. City planners there showed me around areas where crashes and fatalities have decreased because lanes have been narrowed to encourage slower driving.
“As you enter the district, the roads get narrower and your instinct is to slow down,” said Ryan Kirshuk, Edmonton's district planning director.
Some road safety experts say narrowing dangerous corridors could be even more effective than lowering speed limits.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday that she saw evidence that road diets can save lives during her time as New York City Transit Commissioner.
“Just to be clear, road dieting often means taking lanes and repurposing them for public transport pedestrians and bicycles. Statistics show that safety is dramatically reduced. There is good evidence that the results are improving,” Trottenberg said.
Many of Dallas' major highways are built wide and straight to move cars faster. And, as NBC 5's investigative series “Driven to Death” has shown, some of the city's roads have caused even more traffic deaths and serious injuries in recent years than MLK Blvd.
Over a five-year period, Dallas had the highest traffic fatality rate of America's 10 largest cities, NBC 5 reported.
The Dallas City Council is currently debating a bond package to do more for the city's most dangerous roads.
Last week, some City Council members questioned whether the current staff proposal includes enough funding for safe streets and how the city should prioritize which roads to improve first. I asked him if he had decided.
“I don’t care if they’re all in one district as long as all the projects are in District 7. The most dangerous places need to be fixed and we need to stop looking at district numbers. It has to be,” said City Councilwoman Carla Mendelsohn. She said this at a meeting on the bond package last week.
The council's bond funding discussions will continue until 2024.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the city argue that one of the reasons they prioritized the MLK project is that the street is located in a historically underserved area, where many people walk to public transportation. He said that
As part of the redesign, the city will install better street lighting and elevated crosswalks to warn drivers that they are entering a heavily pedestrianized area.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) advocated for federal funding for the project. NCTCOG said in a statement that the MLK Jr./Cedarcrest Boulevard corridor from R.B. Karam Boulevard/Highway 352 to 11th Avenue has seen 456 fatal and non-fatal crashes of all modes since 2017. It was announced that an independent study has shown this. Until 2021.
“This important project will improve public transportation, sidewalks, bicycle facilities, local trails, and access to key destinations,” Kevin Kokes, NCTCOG's sustainable development program manager, said in a statement to NBC 5. “This will reconnect the surrounding area.”
