Chamber readies for bridges
10:17 PM CDT on Sunday, April 2, 2006
By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News
E-mail ftrejo@dallasnews.com
A new world could soon knock on West Dallas' front door thanks to two planned multimillion-dollar bridges.
And West Dallas better be ready.
"To me, time is of the essence," said John Cappello, president of the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce. "If we don't do it now, get ready for what's coming, we're going to lose a great opportunity."
Where there is now empty grassland and levees, Mr. Cappello sees restaurants, parks, plazas and monuments. Along some long-neglected streets dotted with vacant land and industrial facilities, he sees retail shops, neighborhood grocers and new single-family homes, nestled up against condos and townhouses.
He hopes for a Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail station with a line that will not only bring tourists and visitors to the Trinity River, but also carry commuters to and from work each day.
The chamber's ambitious effort is called Signature Project.
"These are the kinds of things we've been asking for, forever," Mr. Cappello said. "Now we have the opportunity to do it. We have to be the catalyst. We have to do it."
The West Dallas chamber is spearheading an effort to get $100,000 from the North Central Texas Council of Governments to launch a study aimed at taking advantage of one of the city's largest economic development projects. Approval of the first study phase, to determine the area's assets, could come next month. The first bridge should be finished in mid- to late 2008.
People in West Dallas say they are used to being ignored, being the city's "stepchild" as one longtime resident put it. But the so-called signature bridges, all designed by noted Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, are changing that. They are part of the city's $1.25 billion Trinity River redevelopment project.
"I think John [Cappello] is very well on track with what's possible in West Dallas," said City Council member Ed Oakley, whose district includes part of the community. "The only way it's going to happen is if you keep talking about it and start getting people to think about it."
One of three bridges will funnel traffic and people directly into West Dallas neighborhoods where, according to the 2000 census, up to 40 percent of the population is below the poverty level.
Mr. Oakley noted the area has drawn interest, citing as an example a 40-acre site that could soon become a mixed-use development.
"A lot of us have been focusing on building those bridges," Mr. Oakley said. But, he added, Mr. Cappello and the chamber have been focusing on what happens to the people who cross. "You don't want them to just turn around and go back."
Council member Steve Salazar, who also represents part of West Dallas, said he and Mr. Oakley have worked hard to reclaim many of the hundreds of abandoned properties in West Dallas to turn them into affordable single-family housing.
"My concern has been that in past examples of Dallas history, the people who get left behind are the residents and the people who were the original developers of an area," he said, mentioning the area once known as Little Mexico, near American Airlines Center.
There, downtown development swallowed up a once-vibrant neighborhood of the city's original Hispanic residents.
Mattie Nash, a longtime West Dallas resident and former City Council member, said the area has been begging for development for decades yet still doesn't have a bank or fast food.
"The thing that some of us are concerned about is that the way they want to use the Trinity River is not necessarily going to benefit all the residents of West Dallas," Ms. Nash said.
She said she only recently learned that the Continental Viaduct will become a pedestrian and bicycle crossing when the new bridge is completed.
"Some of us wanted that bridge to stay open [for vehicles] and nobody ever told us it was not going to be open," she said.
Rosa Lopez, executive director of Vecinos Unidos, said she hopes residents become part of the planning process. Vecinos Unidos is a nonprofit West Dallas organization that aims to develop affordable housing and generate economic growth.
"I would like to see people being part of all that is being planned, so that they get the opportunity to be among the entrepreneurs, not just the dishwashers and cooks," she said.
Mr. Oakley said the city's goal is to create sustainable communities and neighborhoods in West Dallas. Some of that, he said, is being done by developers and organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Vecinos Unidos.
The area, he said, will sustain moderate- and low-income housing, as well as higher-end residences.
The current focus of the West Dallas Chamber is the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge onto Singleton Boulevard, the community's spine.
The bridge, a suspension structure with a span of 1,200 feet, will soar 40 stories high. It should be completed within three years at an estimated cost that has climbed to close to $100 million.
City officials and residents say Singleton is a prime candidate for major development. The street is being widened from three lanes to five lanes. Residents noted that initial funds for the improvements were approved 18 years ago.
"That is the kind of thing that has happened in West Dallas — we've been overlooked," said Ernesto Lopez, a board member of the West Dallas Chamber and president of Lopez Electric, a 40-year-old business in the area.
"We think West Dallas is a jewel in the rough, but we've been forced into that rough. I think that now, with the bridges and everything, there will be unstoppable growth."
Signature elements
Attractions discussed for the Signature Project development on the west side of the planned Calatrava bridges:
Signature Point: A retail shopping area between two bridges that would include a prime view of downtown.
Signature parks: Located at the foot of each of the first two bridges.
Dog park: For visitors and their canine companions.
Autograph Hill: An area similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame that would include signatures or names of famous or influential North Texans.
Signature Place: Condos, townhouses and other residential areas, possibly along Singleton Boulevard, West Main Street and Fort Worth Avenue.
Signature Gardens: Native plants and flowers to decorate the levee area along Canada Drive.
Signature Station: a Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail station to provide transportation to and from downtown Dallas.
Singleton Boulevard: Addition of some of the bridges' design elements to connect the roadway to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge; mixed-use residential and commercial development along the street.
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