Residents in Dallas are expressing concerns about dangerous roads and filing complaints with the city’s transportation department. However, records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates reveal that many of these concerns are not being addressed within the timeframe required by the city’s own regulations.
The records show thousands of cases where the Dallas Department of Transportation failed to close out complaints about traffic dangers promptly, raising questions about the city’s response to such issues. One resident from Northeast Dallas reported a hazardous area for pedestrians, but her complaint was closed without any noticeable changes made by the city to address safety concerns.
NBC 5 Investigates conducted an experiment to highlight the challenges pedestrians face. They walked from an apartment building on Forest Lane to a nearby bus stop, encountering obstacles like the lack of crosswalks and speeding vehicles. The journey took over 12 minutes, illustrating the difficulties pedestrians encounter daily.
Records from the Texas Department of Transportation revealed about 100 crashes occurred in a half-mile stretch of Forest Lane over five years, with six involving pedestrians. After a fatal incident in November 2022, a resident filed a complaint requesting a stoplight, but the city closed the complaint without visible action.
Several residents filed complaints about speeding and requested speed limit changes, but the city left these complaints open for over a year, missing the required response deadlines. The transportation department missed deadlines over 10,000 times in four years, indicating systemic issues in addressing complaints.
The city stated that closing a complaint does not imply resolution and that ongoing traffic analyses are underway. However, residents like Alyson Thompson expressed frustration over the lack of tangible action, especially considering the high-risk nature of the area.
The Dallas City Auditor plans to review the transportation department’s response to 311 requests. The department acknowledged the need to review service level agreement times and explore ways to expedite traffic studies. City council members also expressed interest in accelerating the process to address dangerous locations promptly.
