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<\/p>\nThree popular Dallas trails are getting linked up as part of planners\u2019 goal to create a 50-mile loop around the city.<\/p>\n
The Loop Plaza, set to open at the end of the month, is the city\u2019s latest effort to expand its trail network by connecting the Katy Trail, the Hi Line Connector and the Trinity Strand Trail.<\/p>\n
Philip Haigh, executive director of the nonprofit Loop Dallas, calls the plaza \u201ca mixmaster\u201d for trails that ties two neighborhoods \u2013 Uptown and the Design District.<\/p>\n
The new plaza is built where there was once a large retaining wall along Houston Street near the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s the first of its kind because we actually took that retaining wall and blew it out,\u201d Haigh told KERA. \u201cWe removed it and where there was once fill dirt and a wall is now a bridge that continues the Katy Trail use, but then creates two new plazas and a ramp that goes through that space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haigh added it\u2019s a new feature that\u2019s unique to the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a type of project that you would really see in cities that are being more creative with their space because they’ve run out of real estate,\u201d Haigh said. \u201cSo you’d see something like this in like a San Francisco or a New York, you know, a Chicago, rather than something that we’ve done here in Dallas before.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Courtesy<\/p>\n
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Bramble Creative<\/p>\n
The Loop Plaza connects the Katy Trail to the Trinity Strand Trail and Highline Connector.<\/p>\n
Jodi House, a principal designer with TBG Partners, has been working on the project from the beginning. She said the plaza is going to shape the city\u2019s trail network.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want it to be a place where people say, \u2018meet me at the Loop Plaza and let’s walk to the Katy Trail Ice House, or let’s meet at the Loop Plaza and take our bikes down the Trinity Strand Trail,\u2019\u201d House said.<\/p>\n
The plaza features a gateway of curving sculptures made of weathered steel, which House said creates \u201cportal moments\u201d for cyclists and pedestrians passing through.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat like, \u2018you have arrived\u2019 type of moment,\u201d she said. \u201cIt becomes an actual spot instead of just a movement zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Loop Plaza is slated to open by the end of September. A grand opening celebration is planned for Oct. 20.<\/p>\n
Pablo Arauz Pe\u00f1a is KERA\u2019s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n