This map shows the Northaven Trail as it exists today in green, with the expected western expansion shown in blue and the eastern expansion in red. (City of Dallas)
Plans to expand the Northaven Trail into an 8-mile connector between east and west Dallas will take a step forward this week. On Wednesday, the City Council is set to vote on a $266,387 proposal to hire the engineer firm needed to extend the trail west.
The plan calls for the city to enter into contract with Urban Engineers Group, Inc., who will design the extension of the trail from its current end point at Preston Road all the way to Midway Road. Like the rest of the trail, the expansion will follow the Oncor power line easement, making Northaven more logistically simple than many of the city’s trails, which are complicated by rights of way access.
“I think there’s an outside shot we could see the western expansion completed by 2018,” says Preston Hollow Councilman Lee Kleinman, who has been a longtime supporter of the trail and whose wife sits on the Friends of Northaven Trail board.
Eventually, the west side of the trail will stretch to the Walnut Hill/Denton DART station, an $8 million project that is being split between the City of Dallas and Dallas County. Kleinman says because the bulk of count land has been incorporated into cities, it is spending more of its road dollars to expand trail networks.
“Most people recognize we can’t keep funneling cars in,” Kleinman says. “We have to diversify our transportation system with bike lanes and trails and other options.”
The trail will also grow to the east, with a 1-mile extension that includes a pedestrian bridge over Central Expressway to link Northaven with the White Rock Creek Trail, which stretches to White Rock Lake.
The city council meeting is scheduled this Wednesday at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
