BREAKING NEWS: No North Entrance, Mockingbird Study Being Pursued!
Dear Community Members
This news is so important, that we felt it deserved a dedicated email and a blog post! On February 7th, 2023, during a presentation to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it was repeated twice that the north entrance to the airport is not going to be pursued. Instead, the City will be focusing on improvements to Mockingbird Lane as detailed in the proposed study (see details below). It has taken four years, and we are very gratified that the voices of the communities around Love Field were heard, and that the City is starting work on the airport entrance issues in a way that better uses our tax payer dollars while also protecting our park!
Thank you to everyone that engaged and participated!
Sincerely,
The Friends of Bachman Lake Board
The Details
For those of you that like to get into the nitty gritty... Michael Morris (NCTCOG) and Gus Khankarli (City of Dallas Transportation) went before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with the following presentation: https://dallascityhall.com/government/citymanager/Documents/Council Materials/Mockingbird.pdf
The major highlights are as follows:
Bachman Area Study Key Takeaways:
Lane reduction along Northwest Highway
Interchange improvements at IH 35E/Raceway/Harry Hines Blvd
Interchange improvements at Northwest Hwy/Harry Hines Blvd/Storey Ln
Shorecrest Dr improvements
Love Field Airport (LFA) public access from Shorecrest Dr.
Harry Hines Study Key Takeaways:
Full diamond interchange improvements at IH 35E/Raceway/Harry Hines Blvd/Webb Chapel Extension (similar conclusion from the Bachman Lake study)
Diamond Interchange improvements at Harry Hines Blvd and Mockingbird Ln
IH 35E/Dallas North Tollway (DNT) interchange improvements
McKinney Ave/Harry Hines Couplets improvements and lane reductions
Improvements to Harry Hines Blvd within the Medical District area between Mockingbird Ln and Market Center Dr.
Letter from Southwest Airlines:
In April 2022, City of Dallas (COD) received a letter from Southwest Airlines requesting COD/NCTCOG to evaluate roadway and transit options that maximize access to Love Field Airport (LFA)
Letter requested (a) focus to be on potential improvements to Mockingbird Ln, IH 35 E (Stemmons FWY) and adjoining arterial streets, as warranted and (b) not to include consideration for a public northern entrance to LFA
Letter from the City of Dallas:
In June 2022, City of Dallas (COD) sent a letter to NCTCOG in support of SWA’s April 2022 letter
In January 2023, COD received a letter from NCTCOG covering the following:
Concurrence with the request to study Mockingbird Ln from SH 183 to Dallas North Tollway (DNT) with a focus on the southern entrance to LFA
Include in the evaluation the use of autonomous transit vehicle service
Coordination with TxDOT on potential improvements to IH 35 E (Stemmons)
Concurrence not to include the study consideration for a northern public entrance to LFA
"Listen To The Mockingbird"
The proposal is to fund a study on Mockingbird Lane with the following objectives:
Review existing and proposed access to/from I- 35E and SH 183
Improve access along Mockingbird to support the northern expansion of the hospital district
Review proposed consensus interchange design at Inwood Road
Improve access to/from Love Field from to/from the south
Review City of Dallas Aviation Department intersection designs at Lemmon Avenue
Review congestion levels and queuing at the Dallas North Tollway interchange
Finally, A Community Heard
The concerns from nearby communities, and your feedback in particular, certainly factored into the move by the City of Dallas to pursue other solutions with respect to access to Love Field. There would have been too much disruption in the quality of life at Bachman Lake Park and surrounding neighborhoods just to accommodate traffic that was mostly coming from suburban areas. We feel that the decision to pursue improvements to the current entrance location and nearby interchanges is the right one.