Today is like Christmas for transportation and urban-planning dorks. And TxDOT is Santa Claus. Today the agency released its much-anticipated Dallas CityMAP report, a big study of the highway system in and around downtown. I’m still reading through it (it’s 351 pages long). You can check out what Brandon Formby thought of it here. His lead: “A surprising yet powerful voice is joining the chorus calling for a sea change in downtown Dallas’ car-centric infrastructure building: the agency that typically pours the concrete.” But here’s the thing that jumps out at me: the agency’s analysis of I-345.
Tearing down that elevated highway will create $2.5 billion worth of new property value, bring 12,000 people and 40,000 jobs to the city, and earn Dallas $80 million in additional revenue. There’s really only one downside that I can see. TxDOT doesn’t think we can start the actual tear-down process till 2037.
