5 May 28 - June 3, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents convention center design due to planned demolition and construction projects. With a lowered convention center, that disruption would become permanent. The first proposal required dead-ending traffic with a traffic light on Hotel Street, a rela- tively minor road straddling the southern end of the center. “I feel like you’re cutting something that’s really essential to the future of our en- tire city and how that traffic moves,” Men- delsohn said at the April meeting. The recommendation put forward by staff on May 19 notably called for both bridges to remain open to vehicular traffic and for the Houston bridge to become a two-way thoroughfare during construction, a change from the earlier proposals. Traffic from Jefferson Boulevard would be routed to and merge with lanes on the Houston bridge via a connector ramp. Tuesday’s proposal also provided for the construction of an exit ramp off Jefferson Boulevard to connect it with Hotel Street and the convention center’s planned mobility hub. “Staff continues to talk about the new con- nection to Hotel Street and the Convention Center’s mobility hub, but that’s not where Oak Cliff residents are asking to go,” Chad West, North Oak Cliff Council member, said at the committee meeting. “They’re asking to maintain their direct access to downtown.” Speaking after the meeting, West said he supported the motion to recommend reeval- uating the convention center’s footprint, calling it the “nuclear option,” and criticized how staff have engaged with stakeholders. “If I was any given resident who watched that meeting, my takeaway would be that staff has really missed the ball in communi- cating with residents and with failing to take community input seriously, and that council has now given them a directive that needs to change today,” West said. West asked staff to tell the committee ex- actly how the changes would benefit Oak Cliff residents. James Fry, a representative of a firm hired to consult on the Jefferson Viaduct re- alignment, said the changes could possibly improve conditions for bicyclists. West said he was “stretching a bit” in response. ‘We’re Being Excluded” During the construction of the convention center, which is expected to finish in 2029, commutes would be lengthened by up to 10 minutes during morning rush hour periods, according to traffic data presented Tuesday. To account for commuters finding other routes to avoid congestion, traffic data fac- tored in a “conservative” 25% decrease in to- tal traffic over the bridges, which amounts to around 7,800 vehicles a day, Fry said. Committee members questioned the figure and asked which routes could be used as de- tours, to which Fry said South Beckley Ave- nue was a possible alternative. “We want equity on the Oak Cliff side… It just seems to be an afterthought, and I would like the same amount of funds, equity investment on our Oak Cliff side, and this does impact my district,” West Dallas coun- cil member Laura Cadena said. “I think somebody mentioned that traffic would be routed to Beckley. Beckley and Commerce is already a mess. Beckley people take it to go to Commerce.” Based on committee data, traffic delays are expected to fall to under seven minutes following the opening of the construction center, before decreasing to two minutes during peak morning periods with further upgrades. However, that’s assuming the construction of staff’s recommended $66 million bridge connecting the end of Jeffer- son Boulevard onto Houston Street. The planned bridge would run over DART and Union Pacific Railroad tracks, requiring consultation with both entities, Director of Transportation and Public Works Gus Khankarli told the committee. Council members questioned whether Dallas — the same city that recently enacted a hiring freeze due to financial constraints — would be able to find funding for the planned bridge. Assistant City Manager Dev Rastogi said it could begin construction af- ter 2030, aligning with a planned TxDOT repair of the viaducts. West said the $66 mil- lion figure would likely grow with inflation by the time construction begins. Maxie Johnson, a non-committee mem- ber representing District 4 in southern Dallas, attended the meeting and said council members needed more infor- mation before moving for- ward. “We’re getting ready to make a decision based off as- sumptions,” Johnson said. “What you’re doing is asking this council to do this based off assumptions, and I’ve seen it very clearly. I can’t support anything that doesn’t give ac- cess to southern Dallas, and it seemed like we’re being ex- cluded from decisions in the process that have been made in my district.” Convention Center Blues At the heart of the issue lies the planned convention center, which is expected to cost at least $3.2 billion in total. Mendel- sohn said she had repeatedly asked for a firmer budget on the project, but has not yet received satisfactory reports from the city. At a January meeting, Dallas Conven- tion Services Director Rosa Fleming said the ceiling for the project is currently esti- mated at $3.5 billion. In response to questions about poten- tially reverting to the convention center’s original height, Fleming said reverting to the original plan would lengthen the com- pletion timeline, force the city to cancel con- tracts and potentially lose money on purchase orders for materials like steel. She said elevators, storage and other amenities have already been planned and would need to be reconfigured. “Put the building back,” Mendelsohn said. Stop disconnecting the South and West Dallas from downtown. Literally, this is what people keep talking about. For seven years, I’ve been on city council. We’ve got to connect down to the southern side, and then this is disconnecting it.” Mendelsohn’s ultimately approved mo- tion will bring a third debate over the con- nections and convention center design to a full council discussion in two weeks. Staff could present options more attractive to council members to avoid the nearly $600 million price tag reportedly associated with re-elevating the structure. “A Disservice to Citizens” Oak Cliff and southern Dallas residents have strongly opposed the plans, which they say will effectively cut off their access into downtown. Over 100 residents packed into the Eloise Lundy Recreation Center on May 15 for an admittedly hard-to-follow meeting on the plans, with a vocal majority criticizing the city’s proposal. Some residents criticized the massive ex- pense, while Truby and others said they weren’t sure why it should harm their ac- cess to downtown. “The convention center should not take priority over traffic and cyclists, and I know the convention center makes a lot of money,” Truby said. “I think it’s beautiful, all that good stuff, but that’s a disservice to citi- zens, because we pay taxes, and we also bring income to the city of Dallas.” ▼ TRASH PUT IT WHERE? DALLAS SLIMS DOWN PLANNED ALLEY TRASH TRANSITION, AGAIN. BY AUSTIN WOOD F ewer Dallas homes are expected to lose alley trash pickup after residents and city council members pushed back on plans from the city’s sanitation department. The city recently released a memo from Sanitation Director Cliff Gilespie detailing the reduced scale of the transition to curb- side service. Up to 7,500 addresses are ex- pected to lose alley trash collection, down from the 26,000 households initially ex- pected to lose it. The department also plans to change the way it bills residents, accord- ing to the memo. Dallas has been wrestling with the issue of alley pickup since 2024, when the sanita- tion department originally proposed transi- tioning up to 96,000 addresses — roughly the total number of alley customers in city limits — as workers reported safety concerns in narrow alleyways and newer, larger equip- ment struggled to operate. The plans were eventually scrapped, and a scaled-back ini- tiative to transition 26,000 customers was also put on hold in October after significant pushback from residents and the council. At a February council meeting, Gillespie outlined alternatives that would transition anywhere from 5,000 to 26,000 addresses, although the option of keeping the service across the board was also discussed. In the review outlined in the latest memo, only 7,500 homes are currently un- der consideration for transition to curbside service. Homes under review are those with alleys that dead-end, have deteriorated pavement or present significant obstacles to trucks during collection. Staff will meet with council members to refine the total and explain the selection process, with final plans expected to be released in mid-June. Those customers would then transition in February 2027, according to the memo. Gillespie has frequently cited the dangers posed by alley service, especially in alleys nine feet wide or less, as the primary moti- vation for the push. At the February council meeting, he told council members that util- ity poles, wires and other ob- structions created barriers for workers, some of whom had been pinned and run over in the alleys. Alley pickup loca- tions accounted for 58% of sanitation damage reports in Dallas, he said, despite mak- ing up 37% of the depart- ment’s overall residential service portfolio. Some residents have placed the blame on the city, which they say bought newer equipment knowing it would struggle in narrower alleys. The department will conduct research and development on “non-standard and emerging equipment, technology, ser- vice delivery models, and operational prac- tices” to inform future discussions of alley pickup, the memo states. Resident opposition has manifested itself in a protest at City Hall and a petition with over 13,000 signatures to keep the service. Residents say they bought their homes with the service in mind, while some have raised concerns for elderly customers who would have to carry their bins to the curb. In a sur- vey released by the department in February, 93% of the more than 10,000 households surveyed strongly favored continued alley collection. Residents also signaled a willing- ness to add to their bills to continue the ser- vice, with 60% saying they would pay some additional amount to keep their collection. According to the memo, the department is developing a tiered rate structure under which customers would pay based on the la- bor required to collect their trash. Custom- ers who receive alley pickup, for example, a relatively more expensive service for the de- partment to provide, would pay more than those receiving curbside service. While Gillespie does not need council approval to transition customers to curbside service, the tiered rate structure would need to be included in staff recommendations for the next annual budget, which will be con- sidered by the full council as part of the bud- geting process in late summer and early fall. Adobe Stock The latest plan to end alley trash pickup involves fewer homes.
