The City of Dallas hosted the Henderson Avenue Complete Streets Project Neighborhood Workshop on Sept. 2 — photo by Brittany Nunn
Yesterday evening, dozens of neighbors gathered at the John F. Kennedy Learning Center in East Dallas to chat about the future of Henderson Avenue.
As a part of the 2012 bond package, the City of Dallas designated $1.3 million towards sprucing up a 1.3 mile stretch of Henderson Avenue from Central to Ross. (That amount doesn’t include a separate pot of money that was assigned to repaving the street from Ross to Richard.) The City of Dallas hosted a workshop to glean the input of neighbors, business leaders and property owners who live and work along Henderson about the preliminary goals and priorities for the project.
Neighbors weigh in with their hopes for the future of Henderson Avenue — photo by Brittany Nunn
The host, Peer Frank Chacko, the assistant director with Sustainable Development and Construction, says the the City of Dallas is “right at the beginning of the process.” In November, there will be a second meeting to review and finalize the design. Then there will be a third meeting in May 2015, to finalize the engineering portion of the project. After the design is nailed down, construction will begin shortly afterwards — hopefully, by mid-2015.
After Chacko gave a brief introduction, neighbors huddled around large maps of Henderson to discuss areas along the street they enjoy and point out what they believe to be trouble spots. For more than half an hour, they brainstormed ideas for improvement and then each table presented their top three priorities for the street.
Most of the opinions were very similar. Of highest priority, neighbors requested wider, well-lit pedestrian walkways and crosswalks. They expressed concerns over traffic issues — particularly in regards to congestion caused by valet services and cars illegally turning onto Miller — and the need for consistent parking along the street. Many also requested more aesthetic elements, like trees, along the street from Central to Ross.
For anyone who wasn’t able to attend the meeting, you can learn more and follow updates at dallascompletestreets.wordpress.com. You can also weigh in with your own opinions for the future of the street by leaving comments or requests on the Dallas Complete Streets Project blog.
