Landscape Architect Articles

Dallas Can‚Äö?Ñ?¥t Fund Median Maintenance02-20-08 | News

Dallas Can?EUR??,,????'???t Fund Median Maintenance

Since the late 1990s, there?EUR??,,????'???s been greenery for the median on the Dallas Central Expressway median, but TxDOT says the city has never paid its share for maintaining it.

The 10-mile stretch of greenery along the Dallas Central Expressway is in jeopardy. Dallas weather and water leaks are taking a toll on the plants. TxDOT has pulled out some plants and the landscaping is so sparse in some places that drivers can see gravel in the median.

Like so many aspects of life, it comes down to money. TxDOT asserts the city has never split the cost of the median landscape maintenance, while other cities in the area have. The shrubbery originally went in during the late 1990s.

Bill Hale, TxDOT’s district engineer, told the Dallas Channel 8 news, ?EUR??,,????'??We don’t have the funds any longer to maintain the Central Expressway portion at the level it’s being maintained for the amount of material.?EUR??,,????'??

The Dallas City Council concurs that the funds just aren?EUR??,,????'???t there. TxDOT told the city in mid-February that if the city doesn’t ante up and split the cost with the department, it will not replace the plants it removes.

TxDOT is offering the city an alternative?EUR??,,????'??+to replace the shrubbery with native grasses and plants that will survive without irrigation. Still, that alternative will cost the city $375,000 a year.

Without funding from the city, TxDOT will eventually replace the greenery with fences or rails.