When we think of great cities, we often think of their spectacular scenery, awe-inspiring architecture or world-class museums. And often, in addition to these characteristics, great cities feature celebrated parks and green spaces.
Think of
The Trinity River project seeks to remedy this shortcoming and is a farsighted idea that could establish
Now, five years later, we have a different mayor who has focused her term on taking care of the basics; so, as a city, we can turn our attention to the luxuries that make
The Trinity River project site encompasses 2,000 acres of the Dallas Floodway and more than 6,000 acres of the
In March, Laura Miler’s team of urban designers and landscape architects presented to the city council a newly inspired plan that seeks to overcome the objections to the high-density road construction the original concept featured. The new proposal still contains a road to alleviate traffic on Stemmons, but the road is now a tollway to the west of downtown that shrinks to a four-lane as it travels adjacent to the business district, and will only gird the riverbank on the north side of the river, leaving the south side a natural contour.
The proposition also includes a paved pedestrian path, bridges linking the path to the park area, and a series of four terraced lakes that would meander through wetlands providing natural purification from pollutants. Staggering the height of the lakes creates a waterfall effect that enhances the water flow. This new recommendation fulfills the project’s original mandate of better flood protection, improved traffic, urban development opportunities and better recreational and environmental benefits.
The city council has not yet voted to adopt this new version of the project, but you can express your opinion about it by contacting your council representative: either District 13’s Mitchell Rasansky at 214-670-3816 or District 11’s Lois Finkelman at 214-670-7817. More detailed information on the