Skybridge Vote Likely Will Be Delayed Again
The next chapter in the pedestrian skybridge saga at Preston Center will probably be a long one.
Dallas City Council member Jennifer Gates said this week that Crow Holdings has requested the case be postponed from Nov. 10, when it was scheduled to go before the council for a final vote, to next August. Gates said she plans to request such a deferral from her council colleagues.
The reason for the delay is the ongoing Preston Road and Northwest Highway Area Plan, which has a volunteer task force, city leaders, and consultants working to map out some guidelines for future development around Preston Center. That effort is supposed to finish up next spring.
The developer is seeking a permit to construct a bridge over Westchester Drive, linking the second level of the city-owned parking garage at Preston Center with the upper level of a retail complex on the west side of the garage as part of an attempt to lure a grocer to the site.
The idea gained the narrow approval of the Dallas City Plan Commission in March, then was postponed when it was time for a council vote in June. At that time, Gates said Crow Holdings didn’t want to wait any longer than November — a time frame that received mixed reactions from council members because it forced a decision before the task force finished its work.
Now that Crow Holdings apparently has reconsidered, if Gates is successful in her latest postponement effort, that won’t be a problem.
By the way, the task force will hold a community workshop at 6 p.m. on Nov. 3 at Walnut Hill Recreation Center, where it will solicit public feedback and allow local residents to view the results of a recent demographic and traffic study.
