More Bike-Ped Friendly Streets

The developers that own the properties adjacent to Carlisle Place - the street that dead ends into the Katy Trail just south of Lemmon eastbound - are considering how to incorporate improved bicycle and pedestrian routes into their developments. The hope is they can build wide sidewalks and dedicated bike lanes, like the ones that were unveiled at the Nasher back in November to connect the Katy Trail to Downtown.

Don't know what we're talking about? Check out the "Katy Trail-Arts Loop Connection" entry on the Friends of the Katy Trail's homepage.

A Tree Grows in Oklahoma

SWA Group, the landscape architects of record for the Friends of the Katy Trail, thinks they have found a beautiful specimen tree in Oklahoma that would be perfect for the plaza on the Katy Trail overlooking Lee Park. It's a Burr Oak - the same tree planted in the Briggs-Freeman Plaza in Reverchon Park - and one the City of Dallas' former arborist, now a senior planner for Parks, thinks Dallas could use more of. The tree is currently 20-25 feet tall.

Expect to see construction of this plaza begin in early 2009.

Help ID Hit-and-Run Driver

At 3:55 p.m on Wednesday a Trail user was hit by a car while crossing Knox Street. The vehicle was a late 1980s dark gray Honda Accord sedan traveling east on Knox toward Central Expressway. The driver was a white male approximately 25-35 years old, had a goatee and was wearing a ski-cap. The Trail user was running south and cars in both directions had stopped to let them cross when the driver in the Honda went around the stopped cars and into the intersection.

Fortunately, the runner was able to jump into the air, striking the car's windshield and hood, which likely has a dent in it now. The driver then yelled at the runner to get off his car, before making an obscene gesture and driving off.

Should you see a vehicle in the Katy Trail area and/or a driver matching this description, please write down the license plate number and contact DPD by calling 911.

Contract signed

The Friends of the Katy Trail has entered into a contract with Valley Crest Landscape Development to build a small plaza/entry near the Trail's north end where McKinney Avenue dead ends into the Trail. The plaza, named "Dedo's Place," will feature the familiar limestone seat wall and three-tiered drinking fountain. Expect to see construction begin in the first quarter of 2009.

Missed the Show?

Didn't have a chance to listen to "Think" on Moday? Here's a link to the show on KERA's website -- http://www.kera.org/audio/think.php.

Enjoy.

Tune in Monday at Noon

The designer of the Katy Trail-Arts Loop connection, Mia Birk of Portland-based Alta Planning+Design, will be on KERA's "Think" with Krys Boyd at noon Monday. Tune in to 90.1-FM and listen to Mia discuss how Dallas can convert existing streets to make improved bicycle and pedestrian connections between the Katy Trail and Downtown.

Half-Marathon on Katy Trail

Sunday morning there will be 7,000 runners on the Katy Trail participating in the White Rock Lake half-marathon. They'll be getting on the Trail at Harvard and running all the way to the AAC. So we have the following suggestions:

1. Exercise before 7 a.m. that day
2. Stay off the Trail until after 1 p.m.
3. Come out and cheer on the runners at your favorite Katy Trail location.

For the most fun, choose option 3.

University Crossing

On Tuesday we met with 30-some people involved in the connection of the Katy Trail to Mockingbird Station and the property that SMU owns in the area. SMU is branding the area "University Crossing." To check out a cool video on the location, go to http://www.universitycrossing.com/.

Katy Trail Extension to White Rock

Here's the latest schedule we heard from Public Works recently:

• Early 2009 -- Complete funding for bike-ped bridge over Mockingbird connecting Palomar to Mockingbird Station; and get approval from City Council for contract with HNTB to design bridge.
• April 2009 -- Begin construction of Trail from McCommas bridge through Glencoe Park, and from Warcola behind Kroger to Skillman.
• Mid 2009 -- Complete design of Trail from Skillman to White Rock Station.
• Late 2009 -- Begin construction of Skillman to White Rock Station section.

PSA Now Showing at Victory Park

The Katy Trail PSA is now showing on the big digital billboards at Victory Park! You can download a schedule of times when it will be playing here.

The PSA is showing on the South facing billboard on the East wing of Victory Park above where WFAA Channel 8 does its newscast. A map and parking is included in the schedule document.

Go check it out!

Introducing the Katy Trail-Arts Loop Connection

At a public meeting Monday at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Councilmember Angela Hunt, with help from Friends of the Katy Trail’s Executive Director Eric Van Steenburg and Mia Birk, principal from Portland-based Alta Planning+Design, introduced the planned Katy Trail-Arts Loop Connection. To view the presentation, click here.

This connection improves the bicycle and pedestrian facilities between the Katy Trail and Downtown by creating complete streets that accommodate vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, mass transit, the disabled, and the aged.

Click here to download a pdf of the streets identified for improvements and renderings of what those streets will look like.

Click here to see a 10-minute video interview with the commissioner of the Department of Transportation in New York, which is attempting to turn all of their roads into “complete streets.”