riverfront alternative for the trinity river toll road

8/9/2019 Riverfront Alternative for the Trinity River Toll Road

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BR_DGE Creative Studios LLC

2919 Commerce Street Suite #212

Dallas Texas 75226

www.br-dge.comSTUDIOS

regarding

Trinity Tollway Alternatives

submitted to

Senator Royce West

date

April 3, 2015

The Riverfront Extension

Alternative

Comparing Cost & Time


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INTRODUCTION

ABOUT US

BR_DGE is a process-based design studio.

We develop solutions only after thoroughresearch, market analysis and extensive

exploration of possible directions.

We believe the most critical skill one can use

in problem solving is observation.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The Trinity Tollway has long been hailed as

the best solution to the problem of congestion

in the Mixmaster. However, with costs

escalating and economic disparity at an alltime high in the City of Dallas, it’s time to look

at solutions that won’t increase the burden

of Dallas’ most vulnerable citizens and future

generations. The Trinity Tollway will also very

likely compromise the social, economic and

emotional value of the Trinity Park — a park

that will undoubtedly reshape the city as we

know it.

It’s in the best interest of the City of Dallas

to consider alternatives that a) don’t have a

tolling component, b) don’t significantly add

to the massive infrastructural burden that will

face future generations and c) don’t physicallyintrude on the Trinity Park.

WHY RIVERFRONT?

Riverfront directly parallels the path of

the Trinity Tollway. It provides convenientaccess to all major highways and arterials

near downtown and allows traffic to avoid

the Mixmaster entirely. It is currently under

capacity, especially on the southern end

where the street makes an abrupt stop at

Corinth Street.

Furthermore, it presents extensive

opportunities for economic development on

property between Stemmons, the Mixmaster

and the levees. If proper accommodations are

made, this development will be the connective

tissue between downtown and the Trinity. To

add yet another level of separation, such asthe Trinity Tollway, would be detrimental to

the relationship of Downtown and the Trinity

Park.

MULTI-MODAL

Unlike a limited access tollway, Riverfront will

offer accommodations for all modes of transitincluding bikes, buses and pedestrians.

Multi-modal corridors are known to have

significant economic benefit. Recent studies

have shown higher property value for real

estate adjacent to protected bike lanes*.

Most significantly, the extension of Riverfront

creates the opportunity for more efficient

bus routing. We’ll analyze this later in this

document.

Riverfront offers more

flexible and more reliable

access to all centers of

economic activity in and

around downtown and

to points beyond.

*”PROTECTED BIKE LANES MEAN BUSINESS”

How 21st Century Transportation Networks Help

New Urban Economies Boom: A report from

PeopleForBikes and Alliance for Biking & Walking


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1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

MEDICAL DISTRICT / STEMMONS CORRIDOR /

MARKET CENTER / LOVE FIELD / OAK LAWN

2 VICTORY / DNT / NORTH BOUND I-35

3 TRINITY GROVES / WOODALL RODGERS / 75

4 WEST DALLAS / OAK CLIFF / DOWNTOWN

5 REUNION / NORTH BOUND I-35

6 WEST BOUND I-30

7 SOUTH BOUND I-35

8 CEDARS/EAST BOUND I-30

9 CEDARS/SOUTH DALLAS/EAST OAK CLIFF

*New cross river connections could be made fromOak Lawn to Coronet and from Coloradoto Belleview to provide new connections

between growing neighborhoods and access to the river.

OAK CLIFF

DOWNTOWN

ARTS DISTRICT

CEDARS / SOUTHSIDE

FUT UR E

HIGH SPEED RAIL

UPTOWN /

VICTORYDESIGN

DISTRICT

WEST

DALLAS

EXISTING RIVERFONT

ACCESS


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CASE STUDY

GETTING FROM PLEASANT GROVE TO

PARKLAND HOSPITAL

To illustrate both the effectiveness of TheRiverfront Extension Alternative and the

existing challenges facing the southeastern

portion of our city, we’ve chosen to highlight

a hypothetical journey from John Q Adams

Elementary in Pleasant Grove to Parkland

Hospital in the Medical District/Stemmons

Corridor.

This route from Pleasant Grove to Parkland is

frequently referenced by tollroad proponents,

often with the mention of time savings and

potential penalties/docked pay for being late.

TIME IS MONEY

Like the age-old adage, we’ll ultimately be

comparing trips in terms of the amount oftime they consume. This will keep the analysis

straight forward and simple to understand.


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CASE STUDY

MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY?

In optimal traffic conditions, the current

highway system will deliver the fastest results.

However, as anyone in DFW knows, rush

hour traffic can easily double the amount of

time it takes to get somewhere. Rush hour

is unpredictable and limited access means

limited escape.

What if one wanted to avoid the Mixmaster,

Woodall Rodgers and the rush hour hazards

presented within?

In many neighborhoods surrounding

downtown, surface streets offer a reliable

alternative to highways. Unfortunately, in

Pleasant Grove, that’s not the case.

at evening rush hour

at early afternoon

42minutes

21minutes

existing highway system

(off peak)


(rush hour)

*All time data compiled from Google Maps


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CASE STUDY

LIMITED SURFACE STREET ACCESS

To make the journey from Pleasant Grove

to Medical District, residents have very few

surface street options compared to other

portions of the city.

The Great Trinity Forest creates a very

significant barrier to the west side of theneighborhood and there are only 4 routes

through the forest: Scyene, Bruton/2nd Street,

Loop 12 and 175.

This funnels much of the traffic to 175, the

perceived fastest route. The downside is that

this locally based traffic is funneled into the

mixmaster along with regional traffic.

So, what are the options that don’t involve

having to get into the mixmaster?

1 7 5

175

1 7 5

BRUTON RD.

SCYENE RD.

LOOP 12

L O OP 1 2

2 N D

A V E .

Pleasant Grove has

very few surface street

options to carry citizens

east and west without

having to get on a

highway.


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CASE STUDY

OPTION 1: Scyene

Scyene funnels traffic toward Fair Park and

ultimately through the heart of downtown.If one were looking to avoid any potential

snares, cutting through downtown is not

necessarily the best choice. The amount of

traffic lights and the current traffic patterns in

downtown make a workable but possibly less

desirable option.

OPTION 2: Bruton/2nd to Lamar

One could also choose to cut through South

Dallas and up Lamar. This also cuts throughthe heart of Downtown and is a bit slower.

It’s not easy for Pleasant

Grove residents toskirt the mixmaster

without going through

downtown.

32minutesscyene to commerce

35minutesbruton/2nd to lamar



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CASE STUDY

OPTION 3: 175 to Lamar to Riverfront

Riverfront is great alternate route for those

with destinations west of Downtown Dallas.Getting to Riverfront from Pleasant Grove is

a convoluted process that many simply won’t

bother making, even if it could save time and

help avoid Mixmaster traffic when its at its

worst.

Even with the existing system, cutting

over to Riverfront from 175 via Lamar

only adds 7 minutes to the optimalfreeway conditions route.

During rush hour, one can save

approximately 14 minutes*.

Without an extension,

getting to Riverfrontfrom Pleasant Grove is

not simple or obvious.

28minutes

175 to lamar to riverfront



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CASE STUDY

OPTION 4: Using DART

DART’s Green Line provides a direct

connection between Pleasant Grove andParkland. However, because of the layout of

the transit artery through downtown, train

traffic through downtown is slow and train

frequencies are currently maxed out. That

means the fastest one can travel between the

two destinations is roughly 1 hour.

By bus, the situation is even more

complex.

The bus-only version of this trip takes

nearly double the amount of time as

taking the highway at rush hour.

Reliable public transit

is a necessity forneighborhoods such as

Pleasant Grove.

5minutes

1hour

dart bus + green line

30minutes

1hour

dart bus only



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THE ALTERNATIVE

h a t c

h e r

t x d o t s m

w r i g

h t p r o

j e c t

l a m

a r

r i v e r f r o n t

r i v e r f r o n t e x t e n s i o n

c e d a r

c r e s t

c o r i n t h

c o r i n t h

m l k

b l v d .

m a l c o

l m x

175

FIXING DEAD MAN’S CURVE

TxDOT is already proceeding with the

straightening of Dead Man’s Curve and linking

175 directly to I-45. This will be a very positivefix for the neighborhood as it will allow for the

removal of the elevated S.M. Wright Freeway.

S.M. Wright Blvd. will offer yet another

surface street option into downtown, but still

fails to address optimal east/west travel for

southern Dallas.

A LOGICAL EXTENSION

The Trinity Tollway has always been planned

as a logical extension of 175 after its

intersection with I-45. However, it’s beendocumented in the EIS report itself that

the community can’t afford to pay the tolls

to travel on it. Creating a new connection

between 175 and Riverfront would expedite

travel times while at the same time optimizing

real estate opportunity on the current

southern portion of Riverfront.

Furthermore, it would allow DART to simplify

bus routes and provide more efficient public

transit to residents in need.

The Riverfront Extension

creates a new multi-modal East/West

connection within

roughly the same

boundaries as the

southern end of the

Trinity Tollway.


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TIME COMPARISON

TRINITY TOLLWAY TRAVEL TIME

We can estimate the approximate trip time

for the proposed Trinity Tollway by tallying thefollowing:

1) Time from John Q. Adams Elementary

to 175 & Lamar(where the Tollway would

effectively begin)

8 minutes

2) Estimating that one would travel

approximately 6 miles along the tollroad at an

average speed of 55mph

6.5 minutes (approx.)

3) Calculating approximate exit time atHampton Rd (1 minute) & adding it to existing

distance from the foot of the levee (1298

Conveyor Ln) to parking at Parkland Hospital.

6.5 minutes (approx.)

The results show that time savings will be a

wash during off-peak hours. Since we can’t

predict rush hour behavior or unexpected

incidents such as flooding for the Trinity

Tollway, we haven’t included rush hour

estimates.

42minutes

21minutes


(off peak)

21minutes*

trinity tollway

(*estimated off peak)


(rush hour)

What about traveling

on the tollway?



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TIME COMPARISON

RIVERFRONT EXTENSION TRAVEL TIME

We can estimate the approximate trip time

for the Riverfront Extension by tallying thefollowing:

1) Time from John Q. Adams Elementary to

175 & Lamar(where the SM Wright Project

would start)

8 minutes

2) Time from I-45 to Corinth St. along S

Lamar St. as a comparison

4 minutes

3) Adding the existing travel time from the

intersection of Riverfront and Corinth toParkland Hospital

13 minutes

IMPROVING TRIPS BY BUS

As stated before, public transit is extremely

important for Pleasant Grove residents.

Bus travel times tend to vary depending on

frequency and number of transfers. Assuming

two transfers, we can calculate that a route

along the Riverfront Extension would be about

double the amount of time it currently take for

the #63 bus to go 4.5 miles along Riverfront

and Irving Boulevard

34 minutes

Then we add the trip time it takes to get from

John Q Adams to Lake June Station on bus

#592

9 minutes

Then we’ll add a bit of contingency for

transfer time, delays, etc.

7 minutes

42minutes

21minutes


(off peak)

25minutes*

riverfront extension

(*estimated)


(rush hour)


(by bus - estimated)

50minutes*


30minutes1hourexisting bus only travel time


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MONEY SPENT PER

MINUTE SAVED

trinity tollway

estimated overall costs

estimated minutes saved (vs rush hour on existing system)

minutes


trinity tollway


0 $300m $600m $900m $1.2b $1.5b

0 5 10 15 20 25

COMPARING SOLUTIONS

Since off-peak travel time is a wash for the

Trinity Tollway, we’ll compare the amount of

money spent (for the project as a whole) to

the minutes saved during rush hour on the

existing system. Some statements regarding

Trinity Tollway vary, but for this purpose we

are going to assume $1.5 billion overall. We’ll

also say worst case scenario, the Riverfront

extension costs $150 million to build.


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42minutes

21minutes*

trinity tollway

(*estimated off peak)

trinity tollway riverfront extension

millions spent per minute saved (vs rush hour on existing system)

millions of dollars

overall travel time

trinity tollway



(rush hour)

25minutes*


(*estimated)

$71.4million spent per minute saved

$8.8million spent per minute saved

17minutes saved

$150million spent

÷

21minutes saved

$1.5billion spent

÷

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

All costs based on estimates only. All time data compiled from Google Maps


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CONCLUSION

NOT MONEY WELL SPENT

If we compare the amount of money spent per

minute saved, it’s easy to see that the TrinityTollway is not a wise investment. Since there

will be little to no time-savings during off-

peak hours, we can expect very little incentive

for use of the Tollway, especially for our most

vulnerable citizens.

MORE INFRASTRUCTURE, MORE UPKEEP

The Trinity Tollway would require 9 new

miles of road that expand up to 10 laneswide including on-ramps, access roads and

travel lanes. To maintain this infrastructure

in a floodplain will surely be an expensive

endeavor that will require an increase in tolls.

Extending Riverfront would necessitate

approximately only 2 miles of new roads and

bridges.

LESS PARK, LESS TRANSFORMATION

Parks and roads have co-existed for quite

some time. These roads have stoplights, sliproads for parking, sidewalks and bike lanes.

Never before has anyone proposed that a park

of this magnitude and importance co-exist

with a high-speed limited access highway for

the entirety of its footprint.

The Riverfront Extension would allow

the Trinity Park to maintain its value and

provide for new access points and economic

development along the way.

We hope that you’ll

take this study into

consideration.

Thank you for your

time.

Sincerely,

ROBBIE GOOD

principal / designer

br_dge creative studios llc


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