District 14 Town Hall Presentation for Councilmember Ridley by Patrick Kennedy on Highway Removals and specifically IH-345 in downtown Dallas, Texas.

1. Where and When It All Went Wrong: On the Interstate Highway System;
How and Why to Get it Right.
Patrick Kennedy
District 14
Town Hall & Listening Session
10.26.22

2. Breaking the Noose

3. Dallas
Downtown Highway Network Maps to Scale

4. Dallas DC SF NYC
Downtown Highway Network Maps to Scale

5. Dallas DC SF NYC
Downtown Highway Network Maps to Scale
DC Protested; Defeated Highway Proposals. Built Metro instead.

6. Dallas DC SF NYC
Downtown Highway Network Maps to Scale
San Fran protested; defeated Russian Hill loop.
Removed Embarcadero & Central Artery

7. Dallas DC SF NYC
Downtowns to Scale
Westside Highway Collapsed; Replaced w/ Boulevard.
Three Crosstown Highways Defeated

8. Downtowns to Scale
Storefronts respond to density; Indicative of vitality.
Dallas DC SF NYC
Storefronts:
1,569
Storefronts:
5,777
Storefronts:
1,102
Storefronts:
9,905

9. The imposition of ‘Limited Access’ on
Abundant Access.
Fire hose v. watering garden
Funnel v. filter
Spend Time Space vs.
Save Time Geometries

10. Inner Loops to Scale
Munich

11. Inner Loops to Scale
London

12. Inter-city(between) vs Intra-city(within)Highways
Jane Jacobs wrote that you need big infrastructure for big destinations, small networks for small destinations.
By building through cities, ended up fundamentally re-shaping American Cities, American behavior, and markets.

13. So How Did This Happen?

14. Bertram Tallamy
Director – Bureau of Public Roads
Served under Secretary of Commerce
- Before DOT was a cabinet level position
General John Stewart Bragdon
Head of Public Works Planning Unit
As part of the Council of Economic Advisors
Appointed specifically by President Eisenhower as
Advisor for the Interstate System

15. Robert Moses
Tallamy was an acolyte of Robert Moses
“New expressways must go right through cities and not
around them.”
Tallamy had overseen the construction of all of New York
State’s highways until appointed head of BPR

16. Bragdon: “No Inner Loops”
Why?
Displacement – Eventually the Interstate
Highway System would displace 100,000
on average each year in the 1960s and
‘70s

17. Hundreds of Thousands of Housing Units; Businesses Demolished
The “Slums” Moses wanted to remove is some of most valuable real estate in the world today.

18. Bragdon: “No Inner Loops”
Why?
Displacement
Cost – The proposed inner-city highways
comprised only 1/10th the mileage of the
planned system, but half of the total cost
(10x/mile)
Went over $100B over $25B budget

19. Dallas Morning News Archives
Right-of-way: $12,000,000
Construction: $10,000,000
2022 Dollars: ~$230 million
$164 million per mile

20. Bragdon: “No Inner Loops”
Why?
Displacement –
Cost –
Purpose – The US Interstate system was to
serve interstate commerce needs not local
traffic (congestion, delay).

21. 128
134
66
95 78
83
184
201
211
215
Input/Output: 584k AADT
Throughput: 811k
Bragdon:
“Inner-city interchanges
should never be w/in 2
miles of each other.”
Why?

22. Tallamy: The Yellow Book
BPR saw the interstate highway system as an opportunity
to “solve” local traffic.

23. “What Freeways Mean to Your City”
By the Automotive Safety Foundation
What We Were Told:

24. “What Freeways Mean to Your City”
By the Automotive Safety Foundation
“Desirable.”
The Promise (or the Sales Pitch):

25. “What Freeways Mean to Your City”
By the Automotive Safety Foundation
“Desirable.”
“Beneficial.”
The Promise (or the Sales Pitch):

26. “What Freeways Mean to Your City”
By the Automotive Safety Foundation
“Desirable.”
“Beneficial.”
“Beautiful.”
The Promise (or the Sales Pitch):

27. “What Freeways Mean to Your City”
By the Automotive Safety Foundation
“Desirable.”
“Beneficial.”
“Beautiful.”
“Stimulate Rising Land Value.”
The Promise (or the Sales Pitch):

28. “What Freeways Mean to Your City”
By the Automotive Safety Foundation
“Desirable.”
“Beneficial.”
“Beautiful.”
“Stimulate Rising Land Value.”
“Would Prevent Spreading of Blight.”
The Promise (or the Sales Pitch):

29. What were the results?

30. Downtown Job
‘Growth’
1990 Harvard Study by Professor
John Kain analyzed studies
promoting rail and highway
construction in job creation in
downtown Dallas.
However, jobs in downtown Dallas
remain the same since 1950’s
despite significant city and region
population growth since.
Nearly all the job growth has
instead gone northward following
the ‘favored quarter.’
If we build highways
AND rail, job growth
would do this!
We built highways
AND rail;
job growth did this.
If you do nothing,
You’ll get this =(

31. Ironic Tragedy of Dallas…
built the most supply (1950s to 1980s)
…at a time when we were stripping demand
Building highways through downtown, unlocking new land, further afield, effectively made everywhere they touched,
equally, poorly connected…resulting in low demand over an increasingly large area.

32. DOWNTOWN UPTOWN

33. The High Cost on Property
Highways devalue property where they are
introduced into historic areas
Not just through displacement, but limited
access. Inner city value derives from access
through proximity.
But increase value in greenfield areas by
increasing access to areas that previously had
none.
By devaluing and displacing value, inner-city
highways undermine the overall value of
downtown.

34. !!!

35. Study by David Levinson,
University of Sydney
World Class at
One Thing
Access to Jobs
Via Driving

36. Access to Jobs
Via Walking
Study by David Levinson,
University of Sydney

37. Access to Jobs
Via Transit
Study by David Levinson,
University of Sydney

38. Transit and Opportunity
Percentage of Regional jobs accessible within
40-minute transit commute.

39. What We Are Told Now.

40. 1. Carmageddon! 19,000 Hours of Delay
What We Are Told Now:

41. Induced Demand
Westside Highway –
Manhattan
53% of the traffic
disappeared.

44. Induced Demand
Once again, the city
adapted.
Increased transit service
& ridership, increased
telecommuting
Street grid largely
functioned as before.

45. Induced Demand
Cheonggyecheon – Seoul, SK
160,000 Vehicles/Day
.

46. REduced Demand
Seoul, South Korea
Cheonggyecheon
• Removed 8.5 miles of elevated
freeway and resurfaced buried
stream
• Cost $281 million or $33
million/mile
• Number of vehicles in area dropped
43% afterwards
• 50,000 pedestrians visit park each
day and 250,000 on weekends
• Reduced carcinogenic airborne
particulate matter 21%
• Reduced summer temperatures 8
degrees Fahrenheit
• Added 113,000 jobs along corridor
• Long-term benefits expected to
exceed $25 billion

47. CityMAP
Traffic impact of 345 scenarios
negligible to highway system
Surface option adds traffic to
city thoroughfares – however,
city street traffic is valuable to
activate ground floor retail
Local street traffic is also
malleable (allows for modal
shift, unlike highway traffic)

48. 1. Carmageddon!
2. 200,000 Trucks at Your Front Door!
What We Are Told Now:

49. Incompatibility of High Volume Corridors and Public Health
• asthma,
• cardiovascular disease,
• decreased lung function,
• dementia,
• birth defects,
• stress,
• etc.

50. 141,000 Vehicles/Day
- 36,000 Trucks
= 105,000 Cars/Day
Where does the traffic go?

51. Where does the traffic go?
Demand: 105,000 Cars/Day
New Local Capacity:178,000

52. What Kind of Traffic is Good for a City?
Where are our Miracle Miles?
Van Ness Blvd, Michigan Ave., & Wilshire Blvd., all
carry 45-50,000 vehicles/day

53. 1. Carmageddon!
2. 200,000 Trucks at Your Front Door!
3. Minimal Economic Development Potential
What We Are Told Now:

54. ROW Recaptured: 81.33 acres
Repositioned Underdeveloped Land: 247.90 acres
ROW Recaptured: 93.5 acres
Repositioned Underdeveloped Land: 283.42 acres

56. Theoretical Density
Lower Manhattan Expway (unbuilt)
Actual Density
Wilshere Boulevard – Los Angeles

58. 1. Carmageddon!
2. 200,000 Trucks at Your Front Door!
3. Minimal Economic Development Potential
4. Compact and Connected
What We Are Told Now:

59. HIGHWAY LANE MILES TO
POPULATION DENSITY
Build More Roads, Population Disperses, Density Drops
The more high-speed infrastructure we buy in favor of
longer trips, the further everything gets from each other,
Population density drops, tax base falls while
infrastructure/maintenance burden are high
More Highway Capacity = Lower Population density

60. VMTS PER CAPACITY
More roads = More Driving
As population disperses,
People are going to drive more.
It has effectively been subsidized and
engrained into the culture…as if we chose
it because “we love our cars”
AND Behavior - More Highways + Lower Density = Driving More
…and since we love our cars, we’re
eager to support highway
expansion/construction projects to
“reduce congestion.”
…and the entropy continues…

61. How Low-Density
Development
Hinders the
American Dream
It also means higher property
taxes

62. 1. Carmageddon!
2. 200,000 Trucks at Your Front Door!
3. Minimal Economic Development Potential
4. Compact and Connected
5. Removal is Discriminatory
What We Are Told Now:

63. Where the Highways
Were Built

64. Treme,
Sugar Hill
Rondo
Black Wall Street
MoTown / Black Bottom
New Orleans: Treme

65. Tulsa: Greenwood

66. LA:
Sugar Hill

67. St. Paul: Rondo

68. Detroit: Black Bottom

69. Average Commute Length
by Census Tract
From 2001-2011
Average Length
Of Commute
Increased by
17%
Jobs are Getting
Further Away and Less
Accessible.
Who has longest commute
now?

70. Disparity of
Growth and
Opportunity
UTA study showing
disconnect in job growth
from low income
populations…
…and the disproportionate
percentage of income
lower income areas have
to spend on
transportation.
Should we not be focused
on bringing jobs and
housing closer together?
JOBS
HOUSING
The goal is to
reverse the inertia
and grow jobs and
housing back
towards the center
in closer proximity
increasing access
and opportunity.

71. Car-Dependence on Low
Income Households
Highest 10% of income earners pay very
low percentage towards transportation,
but most overall $.
Lowest 10% of incomes spend very little
on transportation and very little
proportion of their income.
Middle Income earners (40-60%) spend
very high proportion of their income on
transportation…
Hinders American Dream

72. 1. Carmageddon!
2. 200,000 Trucks at Your Front Door!
3. Minimal Economic Development Potential
4. Compact and Connected
5. Removal is Discriminatory
6. The City of Dallas would have to pay.
What We Are Told Now:

73. Found that within about three miles of central
cities (downtowns), the net benefit of freeways
actually flips to have a net negative impact
(“disamenities”) on mobility and accessibility.
Opportunity!
345 as 1st phase acquiring all TxDOT property in the city & re-purposing

74. • Re-purpose state surface roads for
economic development as context sensitive
design;
• Toll existing, productive facilities (as
congestion fee) and use net revenue over
maintenance for multi-modal
improvements & equitable development
strategies
• Systematically remove or relocate highways
in center city in phases while densifying and
adding robust multi-modal networks;
Revitalized Urban Core,
Recentering downtown as epicenter of
growth and opportunity.
Opportunity!
345 as 1st phase acquiring all TxDOT property in the city & re-purposing

76. Transit
-Oriented
Zoning
->
Development
Roslyn-Ballston
Corridor in Alexandria
“Bulls-Eye” Concept
High density close to
station; density gradient
transitions to existing
single-family

77. Transit
-Oriented
Zoning
->
Development
Roslyn-Ballston
Corridor in Alexandria
“Bulls-Eye” Concept
High density close to
station; density gradient
transitions to existing
single-family

78. Investing in
Grassroots
Revitalization of
Walkable
Neighborhoods
Throughout Southern Sector

79. Downtown:
Mixed Income
Housing
Deep Ellum:
Mixed-Income
Housing
Cedars:
Revitalization &
Infrastructure
Improvements
South Dallas:
Neighborhood
Stabilization
EQUITABLE
DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGIES:
Neighborhood
Needs
&
Opportunities

80. What kind of future do you
want?
What kind do we need?

82. That is, if you believe that the success
of 21st century cities is predicated upon
bringing the most amount of
opportunity, empowerment, and choice
to the maximum possible proportion of
the populous.

83. so which way young manmore of the same...with
the same costs and failings
or towards a more equitable inclusive prosperoua
and healthier future?

87. They fail when we need them most
They can’t scale with demand
Redundancy = Resilience
Why Networks Matter

88. What drives
politics?
Spending public dollars is a
political process
It’s easier to manipulate
emotions rather than appeal to
rationality.

89. Wider freeways doesn’t
mean just more overall
cars on the corridor…
It also results in more
cars per lane and thus
more congestion.

90. Fear of Congestion
Congestion costs the country $100+ billion each year.
That seems like a big number.
Costs of congestion per capita…
Source: Todd Litman, VTPI
…but what if we add up the costs of car dependence?

91. $400
Defining Congestion
There is good and bad kind, like cholesterol. Social and
economic exchange is predicated on people coming together.
When everybody is in cars funneled to certain arterials and
highways, reducing modal and route choice, while degrading
the quality of place, it is the bad kind.
City is the platform, but we’re building Anti-City.
This number is constant across all cities.
The price of doing business.
$2 Trillion/Year in Waste
We can reduce this number by diminishing car-dependence
and reducing over-built, wasteful
Infrastructural burden.

92. Concentrated Poverty
Socio-economic
segregation makes it
even more difficult to get
out of poverty.
Elementary School
Orange: 20%
Brown: 40%

93. Necessity of
Density
UTA’s CTEDD
Found significant gaps
between jobs and job
growth and low-income
populations…
As well as
disproportionate impact
from costs of
transportation.

94. Miami: Overtown

96. Assessed Taxable Value of Property (on per acre basis)

97. IH-345 Feasibility Study – Redefining Success
Traditional Metrics for Success
• Reducing vehicular delay
Unintended Consequences
• Devalued private property
• Lower density, lower tax base
• More emissions, pollution, noise, particulate
matter
• MORE congestion
New Metrics for Success &
Intended Consequences
• Greater transportation choice
• Less delay, more convenience & accessibility
• More Economic Development
• Job & Opportunity Growth
• More Housing (type and affordability)
• Greater proximity between uses
• Less emissions, pollution, noise, particulate
matter
• More and better public space
• Improved public health outcomes
• Improved Quality of Life
• Greater Municipal Pride

98. Coalition for a New Dallas Key Concepts:
• Bring improvements further south to re-stitch Cedars / South Dallas
• Maximize even more of the grid (remove option)
• Appropriate infrastructure for destination (trench option)
• All concepts need Costs & Benefits
• All concepts will require Equitable Development Strategies & Policies
• Surface street traffic is more malleable to shift modes
• Surface street traffic is better for ground floor retail activation
• Traffic models must include city-approved goals of 30% reduction in SOV trips

99. New Riverfront Boulevard Connection
Trench & Surface Network Scenarios
provide greater overall trip capacity of
all modes than single highway
corridor.