Most Dallas roads aren’t ideal for walking and cycling. But the city is developing a plan to address one of its most unsafe streets, and it should move forward.
This project would address a stretch of Maple Avenue between Mockingbird Lane and Oak Lawn Avenue, not far from the medical district northwest of downtown. The plan is still in the early stages, but it could improve and add pedestrian crossings, upgrade sidewalks and curbs, and reduce the number of lanes from four to three while adding bike lanes.
No one can promise that this would be a perfect or painless change. But not only does our city need to make its streets safer, it needs to become friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists. We see this as part of a long-term effort to transform the city for the better.
From January 2018 to June 2023, this corridor saw 463 total crashes, with 16 involving pedestrians or cyclists, according to city data. Dallas’ Vision Zero initiative identified a stretch of Maple Avenue encompassed by this project as the most dangerous in the city for pedestrians. Vision Zero is the city’s plan to have zero traffic-related deaths and to halve severe injury crashes by 2030.
Last week, residents and business owners gathered for a community discussion about the project. Those who spoke in favor want to see the road become safer to walk and bike on, but business owners are concerned that the lane reduction will seriously hurt traffic to their stores and the sales they rely on. The safety project would reduce the number of lanes from two in each direction to three total lanes: one in each direction and a two-way left-turn lane in the middle.
Having reservations about a big change is natural. But there is precedent suggesting the “road diet” won’t destroy business as owners fear.
We know Dallas isn’t New York, but there are some instructive examples there. Between 2006 and 2008, improvements to Brooklyn’s Vanderbilt Avenue included a road diet. Retail sales doubled after three years, according to a New York City Department of Transportation study. The area was already in an economic upswing, but the study concludes that the improvements also contributed. The area’s economic growth outpaced that of comparable sites nearby, according to the study.
Most of the sidewalks, ramps and crossings along the Maple Avenue corridor are in poor condition, with several intersections missing ramps and crossings altogether, according to city documents. That limits accessibility and creates safety hazards. There’s no question that this stretch of road badly needs the city’s attention, and it makes sense to us to redesign it in a forward-looking way.
It’s true that this project would probably add some congestion, but that’s coming in any event. In our view, some growing pains are well worth the price of a street everyone can be safer on.
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com
