Dallas City Council Member Paula Blackmon is one of many leaders in the Texas city who supports all 10 ballot propositions that make up the city’s $1.25 billion bond for 2024. Voters will be able to consider the bond in the May 4 municipal election.
Most of the bond money will go toward Proposition A: streets and transportation for a total of $521 million. This aims to fix potholes, repave and repair streets, and make the roads safer.
Two of the projects include fixing Peak Street from Lemmon and Haskell down to Parry Avenue near Fair Park at a cost of over $22 million. Another street that is planned to be fixed is Harwood from Woodall Rogers south to Main Street in downtown Dallas for over $15 million.
"A lot of people don't want six-lane roads anymore,” Blackmon said to CBS News Texas. “We need to have safe streets with pedestrian connections, micro-mobility, mass transit. What we're also seeing is people saying you know what, I don't want to be in my car all the time. I want a bike trail, I want a sidewalk, and so we need to meet those needs as well and that's expensive."
There’s also money for new traffic lights.
“I think it's 45% of the traffic signals in Dallas are older than me, and they have about a 30-year useful life,” said Dallas Council Member Cara Mendelsohn. “So, you can imagine that is way over date."
Proposition B is for expanding and upgrading parks and recreation, with over $345 million in funding. This includes improvements to the Dallas Zoo, the Dallas Arboretum, and the expansion of Klyde Warren Park.
Proposition C is for infrastructure and storm drainage to protect neighborhoods against flooding with $52 million in funding.
There are several other propositions, including Proposition J, which would provide $5 million to upgrade the city’s IT infrastructure.
The city must pay back bonds, which are paid for by property tax revenues.
"This is within our capacity to borrow,” Blackmon said.
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Source: CBS News
