Medical District Drive—How Partnering Delivers a Better Project

The Medical District Drive project improves multimodal access to Dallas’s Medical District by reconstructing the road between Southwestern Medical Avenue and Interstate Highway 35E. The Complete Street expansion entails six through lanes, turn lanes, bike lanes, and 6’-8’ sidewalks. Other aspects include addressing low clearance by phase-constructing new steel Trinity Railway Express (TRE) bridges and improving drainage. This street serves as the Children’s Medical Center (CMC) main entrance and District gateway. Pedestrian traffic is generated from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) LRT station to the east and the TRE commuter station just rth of the bridges. Bicycle lane additions will promote traffic to and from the nearby Trinity Strand Trail. Financing included federal Surface Transportation Program-Metropolitan Mobility (STP-MM) and Demo funds administered by TxDOT, as well as Dallas County and City of Dallas funds. Although Dallas County was the lead agency, this project included many partners. Maintaining commitments to formal partnering arrangements enabled challenges to be overcome and competing objectives to be harmonized. Challenges faced included the need to redesign an abutment to avoid removing existing piles, as well as addressing other differing conditions. Opportunities included working with TRE to construct the bridges without the need for a temporary shoofly, estimated to cost $1.2M, as well as with CMC’s effort to integrate a portion of the sidewalk with their adjoining landscaping initiative, resulting in reduced cost and tree capy preservation.
At the conclusion of this session participants will be better able to:
• Identify principles and strategies for creating effective project partnerships.
• Differentiate between the types of agreements necessary to undertake a partnership highway/rail project leveraging multiple funding sources.
• Recognize how different partner relationships can help overcome project challenges, achieve diverse goals, and create a better outcome.