State OKs $30 million for Trinity bridge
Kirk pleased, but Blumer blasts lack of LBJ funds
The Dallas Morning News
November 19, 1999
Author: Michael Saul; Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
Estimated printed pages: 3

The Texas Department of Transportation gave the green light Thursday to $30 million in funding for construction of the planned Woodall Rodgers bridge over the Trinity River.
City officials said the investment almost guarantees that Dallas will get a bridge designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

"I'm thrilled," said Mayor Ron Kirk, who spearheaded the Trinity River redevelopment campaign approved by voters last year. "When you couple that with the investment we have been able to procure on the private side, we can pretty comfortably say we are going to get the first Calatrava bridge built."

Not everyone was as pleased, especially because state transportation commissioners turned down another Dallas request, for $16.5 million to fund frontage-road improvements along Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway from Marsh Lane to Midway Road.

City Council member Donna Blumer, who represents part of North Dallas and in June opposed a resolution endorsing the bridge plan, called the decision to allocate funds for Woodall Rodgers instead of LBJ a "travesty."

"How many years does this set the LBJ project behind?" she said. "We all spent so much time to come up with this very detailed plan for LBJ that was so acceptable to so many segments of the community. Now, all of a sudden, it is being pushed aside for a fancy bridge by the arena."

In all, transportation commissioners approved about $62.6 million of the $90 million in funding requests from the Dallas region.

Thursday's award brings total available funds for the bridge to about $60 million of the $67 million needed. Dallas voters approved $28 million in bond money in 1998, and $2 million was given by a private donor who wished to remain anonymous.

Design of the bridge is expected to begin in the spring. Officials expect construction to begin in early 2002, with completion scheduled for 2004.

Council member Barbara Mallory Caraway, who chairs the transportation and telecommunications committee, said state approval of money for the bridge is a huge victory.

The bridge and the LBJ project are not mutually exclusive, she said.

"We all know that we have more projects than we have money for. The LBJ project is a lot more expensive than this [bridge] project," she said. "We are going to see an expansion of LBJ. That is going to happen."

Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said the LBJ funding request may have been premature.

"We took a risk on LBJ," he said. "One could argue that the project isn't ready to go to construction."

Mr. Morris said the Dallas region won a significant portion of the available funds, more than $62 million of the $250 million available. The state received more than $1 billion in funding requests.

The Transportation Department's announcements come days after Mr. Kirk revealed that a donor wishing to remain anonymous had donated $2 million to the design of the Woodall Rodgers bridge.

Mr. Calatrava, a renowned Spanish architect, and the Dallas engineering firm Halff Associates have proposed a series of five modern suspension bridges featuring half-moon arches as part of the Trinity River redevelopment plan. The Woodall Rodgers bridge is the first scheduled for construction.

In addition to the bridges, the Trinity River master plan includes a toll highway, lakes, levees, trails and a forest preserve.

Bridge backers say Dallas has an opportunity to build landmark structures that serve traffic needs while providing powerful visual links between the city's northern and southern halves.

Ms. Blumer and other bridge critics say that they, too, admire Mr. Calatrava's work, but that it makes no sense to spend money on aesthetics when the city has more basic needs.

"We are literally choking in traffic in North Dallas, and we are not getting any help," Ms. Blumer said. "I am absolutely stunned."

While final cost estimates have yet to be tallied, Mr. Morris estimated the difference between building the Woodall Rodgers span as a "signature" bridge vs. a basic bridge at about $30 million.

Mr. Kirk said he thinks the investment in the signature bridges is worth the extra cost, but he acknowledged that Mr. Calatrava's bridges "really go beyond functionality into art."

City Manager Ted Benavides said he views the Woodall Rodgers span as an excellent investment.

"Spending money on infrastructure - especially infrastructure that is going to last maybe 100 years, that is going to make a connection between downtown and West Dallas and Oak Cliff, and make our city more vibrant and increase our tax base - I think it is investing in ourselves."

Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan, who is overseeing the Trinity River development project, said the news Thursday will be a significant catalyst.

"This gets the construction ball rolling," she said. "Once you get the first bridge going, I think people will be able to see what this concept is and what it means for Dallas."
  Caption:
MAP(S): (DMN) BRIDGING THE TRINITY
Edition:  THIRD
Section:  NEWS
Page:  1A
Copyright 1999 The Dallas Morning News
Record Number:  4101099