Frustration grows as Hillcrest Rd. remains closed amid DART Silver Line construction delays
DALLAS — It's been a long year of detours and delays for Far North Dallas residents with a half-mile stretch of Hillcrest Road closed due to construction to build the new DART Silver Line.
The road was set to reopen to drivers Thursday but those plans seemed to be pushed back as crews continued to work past the deadline.
It's been a long 52 weeks of waiting for far North Dallas residents like Lisa Mixon. A year of seeing road signs blocking Hillcrest Rd. from McKamy to McCullum.
"I don't think they're ready," said Mixon. "I still see a lot of construction work. A lot of heavy vehicles. I think it's been a mess."
The purpose of the project was to build a new bridge a road for the DART Silver line, a 26-mile rail that will connect Plano to DFW Airport.
Mixon said the construction has caused commuters to detour through her neighborhood.
"I've seen more traffic on it. People speeding. Unfortunately, the massive amount of digging that they had to do, the dirt, and the air quality has been horrible," Mixon said.
"It's like having your own private drive over the last year," said resident Richard Sinz, who sees the project as a positive. "It's going to help people. I don't think I'll use it, but I think it alleviates traffic from Garland to the airport."
As of Thursday, the road was still closed.
Councilwoman Cara Mendelson said "if Hillcrest Road doesn't open on schedule, it will be just another in a long series of broken promises by DART to the residents of Far North Dallas. It will also incur a $25,000 a day penalty according to the approved Interlocal Agreement signed by the city council and DART board."
"So, just I, for one, pray that the road they put in that it's going to work and, kind of get our neighborhood back to being a little bit quieter," Mixon said.
In a joint statement Thursday, DART and the City of Dallas announced the delay in reopening the road:
"The City of Dallas and DART have announced they are delaying the partial reopening of Hillcrest Road between McCallum and Wester Way that was scheduled for Thursday, January 23, for two weeks. That section of Hillcrest has been closed for one year for construction related to DART's Silver line. The delay of delivery of equipment for the new Hillcrest stormwater pump station has resulted in the station not being fully operational. And with the forecast rain over the next 10 days, the City and DART, in abundance of caution, decided to delay the partial reopening of Hillcrest."
