Rafael Rodriguez

		10/27/07 - Negative Impact of Toll Roads
Rafael Rodriguez

My parents and I grew up in a section just north of Downtown Dallas known as Little Mexico.

To the many Hispanic families who lived there as youths with my parents, Little Mexico was better known to them as Frog Town because of the frequent floods they experienced before the Trinity River levees were constructed. A more noticeable name for Frog Town among Hispanic families who lived there was El Barrio then located where the Dallas North Tollway begins bordering the west entrance to Downtown Dallas.

Both my parents had relatives who lived in West Dallas. I remember my relatives would lament about the ungodly scenic view the Trinity River levees would provide them. They viewed those levees as an unsightly barrier dividing their community from the community my parents and I grew up in.

As a native-born resident of Dallas, I remember what happened to my neighborhood, Little Mexico, during my childhood. Little Mexico started to unravel early in the 1960's, and by 1968 the Dallas North Tollway literally destroyed my vibrant community filled with culture and life. My parents and I viewed the Dallas North Tollway as yet another barrier further dividing our community from other neighborhoods located north of us.

All of this in the name of relieving traffic congestion for those who lived just north of Downtown Dallas?

Fast forward 40 years, and we come to a place in Dallas' history where the good citizens of Dallas will have an opportunity November 6th to prevent yet another concrete 55 mph speed limit toll road, which would not only further divide our city but one which will exist side by side between the Trinity River levees without regard to quality of life issues for yet another segment of our city. That group will include thousands of Dallas citizens and visitors who will always wonder why in the world a high speed toll road was built right through what is supposed to be the crown jewel of the Trinity River Project. That crown jewel will consist of beautiful lakes, river meanders, hiking trails, canoeing course, greenbelts and promenades.

Economically, you don’t generate tax revenues and build a world-class city by pouring $1.3 billion worth of concrete right through a premiere park. A more viable solution would be for the toll road to be built outside the Trinity River levees where the end result would benefit Dallas taxpayers and those who would construct quality business development to further enhance our city’s tax base.

Our city’s forefathers viewed the Trinity River as a great natural resource when they settled and developed Dallas. I am certain a daily 100,000 user, vehicular 55 mph speed limit toll road was not included in their vision plan.

Please join me in providing a much more sensible vision plan for the Trinity River Project by voting Yes on Proposition 1 on November 6th.