Dallas to approve $42 million for deck caps to bridge neighborhoods divided by highways

Dallas City Council will vote Wednesday to authorize funding for the next phase of deck parks over Interstate 30.
City officials, as per a memo, have identified locations on Lamar Street and near Old City Park from East Ervay Street to Harwood Street to build deck parks like Klyde Warren Park to bridge the gap between downtown Dallas and southern Dallas.
The vote on Wednesday could authorize payments of nearly $42 million from the convention center construction fund to enter a funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the deck park on Lamar Street and for the city’s portion of building the deck park near Old City Park.
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Grants to the tune of $31 million for the Old City Park deck cap will also come from the federal government. The money will be used to place caps and abutments over segments of the highway to build deck parks.
“The deck cap is intended to reconnect communities that were separated years ago by the construction of the original freeway, including the Dallas Downtown Historic District, the Dallas Farmers Market, the Cedars Area, Dallas Heritage Park, and several other residential and commercial areas in South and Southern Dallas,” according to the memo related to the deck cap over Lamar Street. The memo was published on Friday ahead of this week’s council vote.
Around the city, more than $3 billion has been earmarked for similar projects through programs backed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Earlier this year, reunification projects received $80 million in federal grants that would flow into the proposed deck parks as well as plans to extend Klyde Warren Park and Southern Gateway Park in Oak Cliff.
The two parks are part of a bigger growth story. For years, city officials and planners have been vying to revitalize the area around City Hall and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
The lots behind City Hall will give way to a residential and commercial district that will spur economic growth in what has been a rather sleepy part of the city center, according to the city’s vision. Council members recently approved the sale of the old Family Gateway Building on 711 S. St. Paul St.
Council member Jesse Moreno, who represents the area, said the property is in an area immersed in plans for a high-rise building with office and retail space.
On Wednesday, council members will also weigh in on funding a $141.5 million contract with Perkins&Will, Inc., a design firm, to jump-start architectural designs for the first component of the convention center’s master plan that will extend the center’s footprint west of Lamar Street.