DFW Trails

[Forrest Gump]

East Dallas Veloway Master Plan - Public Meeting
Start: 08/31/2010 - 6:30pm
Timezone: US/Central
Veloway Trail Phase 3 and YMCA, Public Meeting/Workshop is scheduled:

Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: The Ridgewood-Belcher Recreation Center, 6818 Fisher Road at Trammel Drive

The purpose of this meeting is to present "East Dallas Veloway Master Plan" and provide updates to funding and schedule. Please plan to attend.

[boozo]

http://eastdallasblog.dallasnews.com...ane-detou.html


Trail bridge is installed


The Santa Fe Trail pedestrian bridge over Garland Road will be installed this week in two segments -- one half on Tuesday night and the second Wednesday. Expect some traffic congestion for lane detours. Here are the details:

The project: The Santa Fe Trail is a pedestrian and bike path that begins at the edge of Deep Ellum and runs through several East Dallas neighborhoods before curving toward White Rock Lake. The lake end of the trail is still under construction and two bridges must be installed (over Garland Road and Winsted Drive) before it connects with the White Rock Lake Trail.

Garland bridge: The span over the eastside lanes will be put in place by crane after 9 p.m. Tuesday. The span over the westside lanes will be installed after 9 p.m. Wednesday. Duane Smith, project manager for the Texas Department of Transportation, said he expects the work to be complete by midnight both nights.

Traffic plans: Motorists can get through in both directions, but the number of lanes will be reduced from six to three.
-- At 9 p.m. Tuesday, the northbound lanes of Garland Road will be closed from Gaston Avenue to Winsted, and northbound traffic will be diverted to one lane on the southbound side. The detour will end by 5 a.m. Wednesday.
-- At 9 p.m. Wednesday, the southbound lanes of Garland Road will be closed from Winsted to Gaston, and southbound traffic will be diverted to one lane on the northbound side. The detour will end by 5 a.m. Thursday.

Completion: The Winsted bridge is expected in about eight weeks. Officials said this phase of the trail should be open by the end of the year.

[dfwcre8tive]

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dall...l=207603118001

Time-lapse video shows construction beginning on bridge over Garland Road
Texas Department of Transportation workers position the first of two sections of the new Santa Fe Trail's pedestrian bridge over Garland Road. (DMN-Video/editing: Nathan Hunsinger)

[Forrest Gump]

East Dallas Veloway Master Plan - Public Meeting
Start: 08/31/2010 - 6:30pm
Timezone: US/Central
Veloway Trail Phase 3 and YMCA, Public Meeting/Workshop is scheduled:

Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: The Ridgewood-Belcher Recreation Center, 6818 Fisher Road at Trammel Drive

The purpose of this meeting is to present "East Dallas Veloway Master Plan" and provide updates to funding and schedule. Please plan to attend.

http://www.mpum.com/sites/default/fi..._8-31-2010.pdf

Presentation for Veloway at meeting on August 31, 2010

[dfwcre8tive]

Paving way to bike-friendly Dallas is urban planner's task
10:20 AM CDT on Sunday, September 12, 2010
By MELISSA REPKO / The Dallas Morning News
mrepko@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...r.2b632cb.html

As Peter Lagerwey stands at the side of a road and pencils street widths onto a clipboard, he envisions a much different Dallas.

A decade from now, he sees a vibrant city where more people pedal to grocery stores and to work, where bike racks line the front of coffee shops and restaurants, and where all kinds of cyclists – from the spandex-clad to the business-attired – share the road with lane-clogging SUVs.

For the 58-year-old urban planner from Seattle, bike and pedestrian paths mean more than paint and pavement. They build community.

His vision will result in the 2011 Dallas Bike Plan, revamping the 1985 version to increase connectivity between bike trails and on-street bike paths. The city's existing 365 miles of marked bike routes could ultimately double.

Lagerwey, a senior planner for Maryland-based Toole Design Group, is working on the $375,000 plan for the city along with local consultants Bowman-Melton Associates Inc. and Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. A $300,000 grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments kick-started the planning process.

Restriping roads and affixing traffic signs will cost $30,000 a mile, Lagerwey estimates. In the end, Dallas wants to have up to 700 miles of bike routes.

But sticker shock may be a lesser challenge than building widespread support in a city where the car reigns.

"I can't go and do anything unless people are ready," Lagerwey said, "and I think Dallas is ready."

...

[shaun3000]

I haven't seen any mention of the White Rock Creek Trail detour, here. Northwest HIghway is under construction at Lawther and the street and trail crossings have been closed. The trail detours along temporary asphalt sidewalks along both sides of Northwest highway between Lawther and the traffic signal at the White Rock DART station.

The temporary sidewalk is pretty sad to look at but better than nothing. At Lawther and NW HWY, you have to cut through parking lots to get to the actual sidewalk and they did a decent job of patching these parking lots up.

Is this is a permanent solution until the Lawther crossing reopens in two years?

[CasperITL]

I haven't seen any mention of the White Rock Creek Trail detour, here. Northwest HIghway is under construction at Lawther and the street and trail crossings have been closed. The trail detours along temporary asphalt sidewalks along both sides of Northwest highway between Lawther and the traffic signal at the White Rock DART station.

The temporary sidewalk is pretty sad to look at but better than nothing. At Lawther and NW HWY, you have to cut through parking lots to get to the actual sidewalk and they did a decent job of patching these parking lots up.

Is this is a permanent solution until the Lawther crossing reopens in two years?

Thread about it here

http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/sh...011#post396011

16 more months, by my calculation.

You can still, depending on the day, jump through the construction by carrying your bike across instead of riding up to the DART station.

Last week I helped a hand-cyclist on the north side of the detour. There is a transition from the Duncan's parking lot to the temporary trail. It is difficult to transition for some trail users, especially if you are on a hand cycle(you pedal with your arms). The cyclist did not have use of his legs and could not make it up. He is a very strong hand cyclist. 18-20mph around the lake but could not make it up that. I emailed TxDOT about it last week hopefully they will smooth it out and lessen the steep part.

No one is happy. But what can you do. At least we had it open the majority of the summer. They wanted to close it in July.

[shaun3000]

Like I said, it's better than nothing. I was just wondering if this was a temporary solution until they can implement a more better temporary solution. I'd heard something about a tunnel made out of a large culvert-type steel tube to go through the construction but I don't see how that would work. .

[Forrest Gump]

I noticed over the weekend that while some cyclists use the detour many others only partially go on it and then cross over NW Hwy the first chance they get and proceed down the other side.

I believe this situation will remain until completeion. The tunnel thing was deemed to be too dangerous for crossing.

[dfwcre8tive]

Interesting read...

http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Maga...l_Pushers.aspx

Oak Cliff's Pedal Pushers
A group of bicyclists is trying to change the way Dallas thinks about transportation.

by Josh Hixson
Published 9.22.2010
From D Magazine OCT 2010

[txRNGr]

Pedestrian bridge being build over I-635 to connect the LBJ/Skillman DART station to the area directly south.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...v.24decba.html

LBJ Freeway HOV lanes closed till Oct. 30

09:57 AM CDT on Thursday, October 7, 2010

By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
mlindenberger@dallasnews.com

The High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on LBJ Freeway east of Central Expressway will be closed until Oct. 30, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Transportation.

The lanes have been shut down since Saturday to give crews time to build a pedestrian overpass to the LBJ/Skillman DART rail station. The department sent word of the closing a few days after the fact because of confusion over which agency was responsible for alerting the public, department spokeswoman Cynthia White said.

Crews will be working 20 hours a day to complete the work ahead of schedule, the department said. If the lanes must be shut down after Oct. 30, the firms will be fined $10,000 a day for the delay, state officials said.

The eastbound Interstate 635 HOV lane will be closed from Forest Lane to Oates Drive and the westbound lane will be closed from Oates Drive to Skillman Street.

The new pedestrian bridge will connect the LBJ/Skillman Station, on DART's Blue Line, with the west side of I-635 near Audelia Road and is expected to be complete by March.

The project will cost $1.55 million and is being paid for in part with $1.04 million in federal stimulus funds.

Later this year, or early next year, the HOV lanes on LBJ Freeway west of Central Expressway will also be closed – probably for several years. The Spanish toll firm Cintra will spend about five years rebuilding LBJ Freeway and will have to use the HOV lanes as a staging area for months at a time.

[txRNGr]

The 2011 Dallas Bike Plan website has been updated with maps detailing the recommendations for bike path expansions in the City of Dallas.

http://www.tooledesign.com/dallasbikeplan/

http://www.tooledesign.com/dallasbikeplan/maps/
*Map links are listed toward the bottom of the page.

[cowboyeagle05]

Looks like the first phase of the Trinity Strand Trail is almost a go and will start construction this year!

http://t.co/upF8eyA9

Trinity Strand Trail
We just finished the Dallas Park and Recreation Board Meeting and the contract was awarded for Phase 1 of the Trinity Strand Trail. FINALLY!! We now go to city council on February 9 for approval. One down and one to go!

If your fuzzy on what will be included in the first phase look over this PDF for review. http://www.dallascityhall.com/commit...evp_022309.pdf

First Phase will include:
3 miles of hard surface trail – from I-35 to Motor Street
3 pedestrian bridges

[lakewoodhobo]

First Phase will include:
3 miles of hard surface trail – from I-35 to Motor Street
3 pedestrian bridges

That is excellent news that I'm sure will accelerate development in the Design District. Very cool! Any idea what Phase 2 includes? The presentation mentions the overlook plazas as separate from Phase 1, but doesn't actually go into a second phase.

EDIT: After looking at the map on their site, it looks like the second phase would be the extension along Medical District Dr and back toward Hi Line.

[Alex Rodriguez]

So does Phase 1 include the Katy Trail Connector?

[oldchap]

Dallas Business Journal
Trinity Strand trail work in Dallas inching forward
Matt Joyce, Staff Writer
March 15, 2012

After a delay over the winter, the City of Dallas is expected to seek bids soon for construction of a 2.2-mile stretch of the Trinity Strand Trail, a planned hike-and-bike trail along the old Trinity River channel near the Design District.

Shelly White, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of The Trinity Strand Trail, said Thursday that the city pulled a previous RFP for a shorter section of the trail and is expected to issue the revised RFP in the next month or two.

“This is good in that we’re going to get another half-mile added in, and our costs would, I hope, be a whole lot better than adding that on, if we bid it as a separate piece,” White said.

The first phase of the trail will run from Oak Lawn/Stemmons to Farrington.

The Friends of the Trinity Strand Trail’s master plan calls for the trail to extend 7.8 miles, including about 2 miles of soft-surface trail.

White said she’s working to hasten development of the soft-surface trail – which runs on the opposite side of the channel from the concrete trail – because developers are buying up land along its route.

Supporters of the project hope the trail will spur mixed-use developments with restaurants and housing that capitalizes on the foot traffic on the trail.

The built-out trail would run along the old river channel through the Medical District, and past the Dallas Market Center, Infomart and the Design District. The plan also includes connections with the Katy Trail and the city’s Trinity River Corridor system

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/ne...l?ana=handmark

[CasperITL]

I wonder when they are going to start working on the Katy Trail between Worcola and Skillman. They have not worked on it since last summer. I realize with all the snow, ice, earthquakes and grizzly bear mating season that construction can be delayed.

TxDOT is pushing back the opening of the White Rock Creek Trail under Northwest Highway till late summer or fall now. Although they only need 50 feet of pavement to finish it. Hope no one gets killed this spring crossing the highway! Two years. Two years it will have been closed as of July 17th. It was only supposed to be 18 months.

[tamtagon]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/commu...n-april-14.ece

Northaven Trail to open in North Dallas on April 14

The 12-foot-wide hike and bike trail stretches along Oncor’s power line easement just north of Royal from U.S. Highway 75 to Preston Road .... The 2.2-mile trail cost $1.94 million, financed by bonds approved by voters in 2006. The trail includes limestone benches, doggy stations and rest pits.

...Dallas County has agreed to match any funding for the trail to help connect it to the larger trail system in the county.
The county’s money will help connect the trail from Central Expressway to the White Rock Creek Trail. Construction is scheduled to begin next year, and the new stretch of trail is expected to open in 2014.

But after that is complete, the project, which was initially planned to be a total of 9.4 miles and completed west to Campion Trail in Irving, will come to a halt because of a lack of funding. There are no Park and Recreation bonds planned to be taken to voters, Kleinman said.

[gshelton91]

I wonder when they are going to start working on the Katy Trail between Worcola and Skillman. They have not worked on it since last summer. I realize with all the snow, ice, earthquakes and grizzly bear mating season that construction can be delayed.
.

I asked someone at the city about this just a few months ago... the person said that Texas Utilities got all upset because the trail was going to be so close to the transformers with only a chain link fence... so the city had to go back to the drawing board and replace the chain link with a wall.

did not get an ETA on when it would start up again.

[Forrest Gump]

I thought it might have something to do with the transformers as there is not a lot or room there to get past.

The prelim construction work has begun on the north side of Northwest Highway from the White Rock Dart Station going west to under the bridge at Bucknell so dirt should be flying soon.

[tamtagon]

It nice to read that the city is showing some progress to put bike lanes in downtown. Kinda disappointed, though, that a direct connection to Klyde Warren Park from Katy Trail isn't included yet....

[CasperITL]

http://vimeo.com/44832886

This is Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, on Hampton near Kiest in Oak Cliff. Video was shot not too long ago.

This is one of those really cool places tucked into the middle of an urban area and I often tell some of the more urban city dweller types who use DART as transportation that this can be easily reached. Bikes and foot traffic are welcome.

[txdore]

Totally forgot about that Preserve. Be sure to visit the Baskin Robbins at Hampton & Keist.
Also, I haven't been by there, but in the last few years there has been some park beautification work by volunteers at the adjacent Keist Park.

[boozo]

I rode the White Rock Trail north of the Lake on Sunday and the trail under Northwest Highway is finished!

Some landscaping remains but it is very wide and safe! Sorry no pics.

However, everything north from there was full of mud!! in August..?

[BigD5349]

^This afternoon I saw bikers zipping underneath NW Highway... good stuff.

Sorry I'm being lazy in case this has recently been discussed, but does anyone know, when in the hell are they going to build the bridge over Mockingbird to extend the Katy Trail? Is the bridge even funded?

[CasperITL]

Newly built Katy Trail Phase IV between Northwest Highway and Mockingbird. I'm not sure what name this track originally went by. It was never the MKT and while it could be the Santa Fe Trail, it might have been a spur line of the Southern Pacific.

This will give access to and from Vickery Meadows to White Rock Lake, The Village etc.


From Trammel looking north towards NW Highway

[BigD5349]

Woo hoo, go Angela, go!

http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/2...kingbird.html/

^This afternoon I saw bikers zipping underneath NW Highway... good stuff.

Sorry I'm being lazy in case this has recently been discussed, but does anyone know, when in the hell are they going to build the bridge over Mockingbird to extend the Katy Trail? Is the bridge even funded?

[krockech]

Woo hoo, go Angela, go!

http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/2...kingbird.html/

All,

This is for the three bridges over 1) Greenville, 2)Skillman,3) Abrams ... to get to the WRL Dart station/Lakewood Veloway over near fisher road. The retaining wall is for the alley near merriman park /univeristy manor near kellers hamburgers because of city of dallas right of ways for water etc. Looks like they should start moving again on this... been stalled for 6 months.

http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/resol...12/12-3058.PDF

[CasperITL]

^ Yep, since I posted those photos of Phase IV in August, not a single thing has happened with that stretch of trail from Northwest Highway to Mockingbird.

[gshelton91]

this trail is taking forever. I heard there is an issue with the trail going so close to the Oncore tranformer area near greenville too. That whole seciton of the trial seem to not be mentioned in the document.

[CasperITL]

^The section of the Katy Trail from Worcola to Greenville must have been built almost two years ago. Like you mentioned, there is some issue with the proximity to the electrical station north of the DART Blue Line and east of Greenville.

This is a city wide problem where these glorified sidewalk projects string out over years. It drives many nuts. A great example is the Northwest Highway underpass for the White Rock Creek Trail. It has been closed for YEARS. We are on year THREE of it being closed. The issues surrounding it are insane and involve incompetent contractors who have no business being in the construction industry. Piss poor oversight by the city and TXDOT to boot. Shame on them all the way around.

Same goes with the underpass at Park Central/LBJ and the White Rock Creek Trail. TXDOT had advisory meetings prior to LBJ construction assuring that the White Rock Creek Trail closure would be a brief month(4 weeks) while overhead beams were being installed over the trail. Well, it's been over a year now! No hope in sight of changing that either.

[gshelton91]

Yeah just talked to Max at the City regarding finally finishing the Santa FE TRail to Deep Ellum and Fair Park... it was supposidly funded and ready to go 2 years ago... now after years of work on this little segment... they are finalizing the agreement with DART to use the right of way. Someone needs to introduce the time value of money concept to these folks.

[krockech]

All,

This is for the three bridges over 1) Greenville, 2)Skillman,3) Abrams ... to get to the WRL Dart station/Lakewood Veloway over near fisher road. The retaining wall is for the alley near merriman park /univeristy manor near kellers hamburgers because of city of dallas right of ways for water etc. Looks like they should start moving again on this... been stalled for 6 months.

http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/resol...12/12-3058.PDF

All,

Saw a front dozer off nw hwy on friday and noticed they have leveled the dirt down the road from town north (by the church from kellers)... Merriman Park\University Manor. So, it looks like things are moving a little. I also noticed fresh concrete form clearing from WRL Dart to Duncans. Now they just have a few odds and ends along nw hwy to finish, but not holding me breath as it will probably take 5 months to do 14 days of work. Also, they are about 100 years or so away from the nwhwy bridge, once they deal with the retaining wall things should move fairly quickly. I am just glad it apprears to be back on track!! If they complete it will be great for folks to get to the new lakehouse resturant from the various points along this trail. I'm looking forward to getting over to Mockingbird station once complete and then finally Downtown...

[ksig121]

I was just thinking. Mile for mile, I think the Katy Trail has spawned more successful TOD's than any other transit project in the area. It boasts several new apartment communities (named specifically for the trail), multiple restaurants, and a new office project that is oriented to interact with the trail (Hillwood). I know that a lot of it has to do with its central location, but I think that most new developments going up along the trail use it as a selling point. I wonder if DART can learn anything from this? I also believe that this growth will continue across I-35 once Katy is connected to the Trinity Strand.

So much focus has been given to DART TODs that the trails are largely ignored. I think the trails may be the key to balancing walkability with having auto access in these densely populated areas of central Dallas. With locals using the trails to navigate between developments and visitors being able to park and enjoy them. It seems like a much more "Dallas" solution to encouraging density while still appealing to enough visitors to make businesses profitable.

Just some random thoughts... Am I way off base?

[tamtagon]

I was just thinking. Mile for mile, I think the Katy Trail has spawned more successful TOD's than any other transit project in the area. ... I think the trails may be the key to balancing walkability with having auto access in these densely populated areas of central Dallas. With locals using the trails to navigate between developments and visitors being able to park and enjoy them. It seems like a much more "Dallas" solution to encouraging density while still appealing to enough visitors to make businesses profitable.

Just some random thoughts... Am I way off base?

You're way on base. In hindsight, the light rail and trail systems should have been developed simultaneously, symbiotically.

[krockech]

All,

Saw a front dozer off nw hwy on friday and noticed they have leveled the dirt down the road from town north (by the church from kellers)... Merriman Park\University Manor. So, it looks like things are moving a little. I also noticed fresh concrete form clearing from WRL Dart to Duncans. Now they just have a few odds and ends along nw hwy to finish, but not holding me breath as it will probably take 5 months to do 14 days of work. Also, they are about 100 yards or so away from the nwhwy bridge, once they deal with the retaining wall things should move fairly quickly. I am just glad it apprears to be back on track!! If they complete it will be great for folks to get to the new lakehouse resturant from the various points along this trail. I'm looking forward to getting over to Mockingbird station once complete and then finally Downtown...

It's looking like things are moving again. Saw the rebar trucks... So this trail is moving again. Once all this happens (They should be finishing all the easy stuff) then we are waiting on the Bridges across abrams/skillman/greenville.