Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The third community meeting for Better Block’s first cohort of Better Intersections took place at the Martin Weiss Recreation Center on Tuesday, June 30.
Better Intersections is a program working with neighbors, City Council member offices and the City’s transportation department to develop temporary installations for testing safer streets.
Last month, Better Block held community meetings for the projects in District 1, District 3 and District 9. The District 1 project is focused on improving West Clarendon Drive north of the Martin Weiss Park and is partially funded by AARP with support from Toyota North America.
One of the main issues presented to meeting attendees before embarking on the walk audit, where attendees documented the functions of the area that day, focused on one house. The street safety every day for Mary Ann Hernandez, whose house on West Clarendon has experienced four crashes into her home.
“A lot of that has to do with this traffic coming down Coombs Creek,” Hernandez said at the meeting. “The last two accidents that we had, it was determined those vehicles were traveling 80 to 85 miles per hour, which made it possible for one vehicle to go through my living room down in my kitchen, I mean, landed there. The other one, she totaled two cars and flew into our house.”
Living at the property for over 40 years, Hernandez said she has tried to do something about that stretch, such as gathering enough signatures to put in speed bumps. Attempts have been unsuccessful thus far, with not enough signatures collected.
She has purchased larger cinder blocks to place in front of her home for her own safety. On the city end, she was able to have a yellow two-direction arrow sign installed just in front of those. Still, the safety of her home remains uncertain.
“We don’t sit on our porch. We stay to the back of the house because it’s not a safe place to be. Nighttime is dangerous,” she said.
Other issues surrounding the area discussed before the walk audit included the lack of pedestrian infrastructure, such as crosswalks at intersections and bike lanes (though a route is in the works as a part of the Dallas Bike Plan).
“There are no speed mitigation measures in place, and there’s really no infrastructure buffer of any kind between fast-moving vehicles and people walking alongside,” said Andrew Finney, founding president of the neighborhood association Rooted Oak Cliff.
On the walk audit, key takeaways for improving these issues included the potential for traffic calming measures like public art, improvements needed to existing pedestrian-specific lighting, additional pedestrian-facing signage and the need for ADA improvements.
Now, Better Block is taking the information gathered to work on the design for the pilot, a temporary demonstration that will take place next month and last for 90 days. The team will gather observations, public feedback and behavioral data based on that installation to make recommendations for permanent infrastructure investments to help improve safety.
To stay updated on the project, fill out the Better Intersections District 1 Sign In & Interest Form here.
