The top transportation leaders have announced new plans to address the most dangerous street in Dallas, prompted by the NBC 5 investigation, Driven to Death, which highlighted dangers on Loop 12 in South Dallas. Senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman has the new details.
The area's top transportation leaders unveiled new plans to address the deadliest street in Dallas at a town hall meeting on Tuesday.
It's a conversation prompted by an NBC 5 investigation, Driven to Death, which highlighted dangers on Loop 12 in southern Dallas, a road that continues to lead the city in traffic deaths and injuries.
It's been almost a year since NBC 5 Investigates began asking questions about why so many people are dying and suffering serious injuries on Loop 12.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Texas Department of Transportation announced its most sweeping plans yet to address the dangers. Still, some expressed concern that the change would not happen fast enough to stem the distressing number of deaths.
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Already, TxDOT and the city have implemented new, lower speed limits on much of Loop 12, installed new signs, lowered speed limits, and painted new speed limits on street pavement. They plan to install 15 new traffic signals, creating new mid-block pedestrian crossings.
"You will have 15 new locations that you can walk in a protected by the signal crosswalk, and that hopefully will allow more opportunity for people to walk safely across the road,” said Ceason Clemons, TxDOT’s Dallas district engineer.
Officials said they are also removing or consolidating 41 bus stops near new safer crossings, and they plan to install lighting on the entire Loop 12 corridor.
They are also considering using federal money to hire new police officers dedicated to speed enforcement.
“So whatever speed enforcement we can bring to the problem is going to be critical,” said Michael Morris, transportation director at the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
While the plans sound encouraging, much of this will take time.
For example, installing the new crossings and lights could take 18 months, which is longer than some in the community said they would wait.
New data from TxDOT showed 18 people have died in traffic crashes on the loop already this year.
“You gonna wait and we gonna come back and another kid died or another person died and you gonna say, 'Alright, we have 17 months?' Is that what you’re going to say? Let me know,” said Taylor Toynes, an Oak Cliff community leader who addressed Tuesday night's town hall meeting.
Officials pledged to examine ways to speed up timelines and said they would work with police to determine whether more police enforcement is possible immediately.
The NBC 5 Investigates series “Driven to Death” has told the stories of people who died on Loop 12. The reporting has used video and data to shine a light on the dangers, including high speeds and a lack of crosswalks, causing pedestrians to walk across the middle of Loop 12’s six-lane roads.
Community leaders listened, including State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who then pulled together the top transportation officials in the region.
“I was alarmed and even shocked of the number of accidents that took place,” said West.
