Those who live in Dallas’ Kessler Park are considering changes at one of the neighborhood’s most crash-prone intersections.
On Tuesday night, a meeting was held at Kidd Springs Recreation Center to discuss what can be done at West Colorado Boulevard at Tyler Street/Sylvan Avenue. The city reports that nearly 50 crashes have occurred there from 2020 to 2024.
Longtime resident voices concern
Elmer Powell has lived across from the intersection since the 1970s and says traffic has gotten out of control.
“Traffic is probably 10xs what it was over the years, it’s growing tremendously,” he said.
He says speeding is the real issue. In just the past three years, three cars have crashed into his yard.
“They usually hit the embankment and jump up in the air and land on the yard,” he said.
City reviews roundabout proposal
Tuesday night, Powell joined his neighbors as city leaders reviewed a proposal aimed at making the area safer.
“This is an extremely dangerous intersection,” District 1 City Councilman Chad West said. “As I mentioned earlier on, this is the one intersection I’ve actually had an accident personally at.”
Close to 200 residents voted on three design options, and about 60% chose a “peanut roundabout,” which would be funded by the 2024 bond.
Parking concerns raised by residents
Not everyone was on board. One resident said the proposal eliminates her parking lane.
“We wouldn’t be able to back out on a complicated curve on the street that blocks our vision already,” Keer Tanchek said.
“Those engineers need to sit down and talk to those people individually and try to work through those problems,” West said.
Recent crashes heighten urgency
Nearby, several serious crashes in recent months have neighbors worried.
This included a deadly pedestrian accident on West Davis last Sunday and a chain-reaction crash at Davis and Tyler Street that sent several people to the hospital last July.
Back in May, a car tore through a roundabout and into a townhome at a roundabout on Tyler near Winston Street.
Some oppose proposed intersection changes
As for the project near Powell’s home, he says he’s against the changes. With the current design, he won’t be able to turn left out of his neighborhood.
“I think the intersection functions, it’s the speed,” he said. “The only thing that’s going to solve the problem is having some type of red light on Tyler and Sylvan.”
The city says a final design of the project should be complete by next fall, with construction expected to begin in 2027.