They do concede that higher fuel prices and the economy are affecting the rate of growth. With many drivers paying over $4 a gallon at the pump and roads clogged with traffic congestion averaging 60 hours a week across the nation’s 100 worst bottlenecks, traffic continues to have a major impact on consumers, businesses and the American economy.

The INRIX National Traffic Scorecard is the first to measure the nation’s traffic congestion problem by going beyond the traditional limitations of road sensors and statistical sampling techniques to evaluate real-time traffic on almost every major metropolitan roadway nationwide.  The scorecard takes a micro look at traffic problems all across the country – zooming in on the total hours spent in traffic, worst day of the week for commuting and average speeds for the top 100 cities in the U.S

Further analysis by INRIX showed that Northbound on the Loop 820 at HWY 26/GRAPEVINE HWY/EXIT 22, as the worst bottleneck for the city.

The Top 10 Congested Cities:

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
2. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
3. Chicago-Naperville, IL
4. Washington DC, Arlington, VA
5. Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, TX
6. San Francisco, Oakland, Freemont, CA
7. Houston, TX
8. Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, MA
9. Seattle, WA
10. Atlanta, GA

INRIX Nationwide Traffic Scorecard “Factoids”

• Worst Traffic Day: Friday
• Worst commute: Friday PM
• Worst commuting hour: Friday 5-6 PM
• Worst morning: Wed AM
• Best week day for traffic: Monday
• Best week day commute: Friday AM
• Best week day hour: Friday 6-7 AM
• Best week day afternoon: Monday PM

Further info: Drivers can access more information at http://scorecard.inrix.com

Click here and you will go directly to the survey where you will have an opportunity to vote on one of the six finalists below.  In June, the Dallas City Council will make its final selection on the new name.

Cesar Chavez Blvd.

Eddie Bernice Johnson Pkwy.

Riverfront Blvd.

Trinity Lakes Blvd.

Trinityview Blvd.

Waterfront Blvd.

What can you say but…..man. As I went through my morning routine checking news sites I saw a disturbing headline at DallasNews.com: Two found fatally shot at former DART chairwoman’s home.

The News reports that Rufus Shaw died of a self inflicted gun shot wound. The story by Dave Levinthal and Scott Goldstein says that “the body of a woman was also found.” Everyone that I’ve spoken with has confirmed that the woman is Mrs. Shaw.

I first met Mrs. Shaw during the 2006 Dallas Bond Campaign. She was one of those in charge of educating the citizens of Southern Dallas about the merits of the proposal. The measure very well received among black voters due in large part to the efforts of Mrs. Shaw.

She was later appointed chairwoman of the DART Board of Directors. She eventually resigned that post after she was accused of forging a letter on Dallas DA Craig Watkins’ letter head.

I never met Rufus Shaw, but in many ways he was my first blogging mentor. When I started Dallas South, I had no idea who else was out there in the black blog world. I found two people, Mike Davis at Dallas Progress and Rufus Shaw who was part of DallasBlog.com .

Rufus wrote many thoughtful columns/posts regarding the Dallas political landscape. He was as passionate about the pervasiveness of racism in Dallas politics as he was about the infighting among the African-American “leadership” in the city. I often left comments on Rufus’ posts and was impressed by how he was about to express his opinions at a mainstream forum like Dallas Blog.

Scott and Dave’s article pulls an excerpt of a January 13 post written by Rufus that lays it all out Rufus’ thoughts pretty clearly.

“I have often said in this column that being married to me is Lynn Flint-Shaw’s biggest political liability,” Mr. Shaw wrote. “As a writer, I have made a career out of exposing the corrupt, the inept, and the purveyors of hate and personal destruction in the black community. For my efforts, I have earned the hatred of a great many dysfunctional black political players as well as the scorn of a number of big business types who I have exposed for their broken promises to southern Dallas.

“The end result,” Mr. Shaw continued, “is that African-Americans who seek to work with the white community without race being a factor or those African-Americans who seek to do the job that is best for the whole city are demonized, set up, and destroyed.”

I am overcome with sadness for the way this has all unfolded. Our community needs more leaders like the Shaw’s and what they have stood for over the years. Regardless of the outcome of police investigations, we see the results of more black on black violence and two more deaths by gunfire. My prayers are with the family that has been impacted by this tragic loss.

Photo from ClassicalTexas.com

VALLI KANE & VAGNINI LLP

CONTACT RANDY SMITH

212-564-4692

516-312-6573 CELL

AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATINO WORKERS EXPOSED TO NOOSE, SWASTIKAS”N—– HIT LISTS”AND MORE AT DALLAS-FT WORTH AIRPORT FACILITY TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE WITH FEDERAL OFFICIALS

TO ANNOUNCE RECORD SETTLEMENT OF MILLIONS

FORMER NFL DALLAS COWBOY ERIC MITCHEL WILL JOIN 14 AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATINO WORKERS THAT WERE EXPOSED TO NOOSES, SWASTIKAS,”N—–HIT LISTS” AND MORE AT THE DALLAS-FT WORTH AIRPORT. FEDERAL OFFICIALS WILL HOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE WITH EMPLOYEES ANNOUNCING A RECORD SETTLEMENT OF MILLIONS.

IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMMOROW, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008 AT 11AM IN FRONT OF THE UNITED STATES EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC) LOCATED AT 207 SOUTH HOUSTON STREET IN DALLAS.

THE CASE INVOLVING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN RECENT HISTORY. ATTORNEY JAMES VAGNINI WILL OUTLINE THE TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE OF THE ACTION FILED AGAINST ALLIED AVIATION SERVICES. THE COMPANY WITH OTHER LOCATIONS AT JFK AND NEWARK EMPLOYS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND HAS FACILITIES AT 22 OTHER AIRPORTS AROUND THE WORLD.

• What has become painfully obvious to me is that there are two Dallases, and I'm not talking about the racial divide. I'm speaking of basic city services: roads, parks and code enforcement. The city cannot do anything about the demographic makeup of my neighborhood, but it can do something about the roads and parks.

• First, our roads. They are in worse shape than our northern neighbors'. Oak Cliff has more streets that require resurfacing, more that lack curbs and sidewalks, and more without street lights than north Dallas. These statistics come from the city of Dallas' Web site, under "unfunded needs." Why can't the city pave and repair our roads with as much vigor as it does the northern half?

• Second, our parks. A visit to Kidd Springs Rec Center in Oak Cliff should be contrasted with a visit to the Churchill Rec Center in North Dallas. Don't our children deserve a decent, well-maintained rec center, too? A quick check of the Dallas Parks Web site shows that of the seven parks with Wi-Fi access, only one of them (Kidd Springs) is south of the Trinity River. The other six are all in North Dallas. There are three tennis centers in North Dallas, but only one in Oak Cliff.

• Third, our public schools. Results from the DISD show that W.T. White and Hillcrest high schools (in North Dallas) had 34 and 46 students, respectively, pass the college-level AP exams. In Oak Cliff, Sunset, the high school nearest me, had 10. (Please don't tell me to consider private schools in my area, as I am a longtime public education advocate.)

• Don't minority families in Dallas deserve a decent road, a decent park and the junked cars to be removed from the neighborhood eyesore?  After all, they – and I – have children and a yearning for a decent quality of life.

See Mr. Warnock's entire column by clicking here.

See "10 Drops in the Bucket" by clicking here. 

Here are a few of the suggestions made in this mornings paper.

• The Dallas Zoo is an attraction that should lure visitors from across North Texas to the southern part of the city. But for families exiting Interstate 35E one of the first businesses they'll see is the ramshackle Dallas Inn. One look at the broken windows and the bombed-out-looking building, and zoo-goers might be tempted to turn around and head home.

• You can't pull up a chair and enjoy your Frosty in the Wendy's at Lancaster Road and Kiest Boulevard. The drive-through-only restaurant wants your money but won't allow you to take a seat, leaving pedestrian patrons to eat on the sidewalk. In the future, the city should take a hard look at requests to build eating establishments that lack tables and chairs.

• The intersection of Hampton Road and Ledbetter Drive has become a popular destination with a Fiesta supermarket, a Subway sandwich shop and an assortment of specialty stores. But the surrounding landscape is littered with old-fashioned telephone poles and exposed lines. These relics of the past are a rare sight on the north side of town. This busy corner and plenty of other southern Dallas neighborhoods would benefit from having the lines buried.

• The car wash near Sunnyvale Street and Ledbetter Drive has become a big draw – for people who arrive on foot. Neighbors report seeing open drug use and constant loitering. But despite their complaints, the car wash continues to draw a crowd.

These are solid recommendations made by the editorial staff.  Residents would say that none of these are new or Earth shattering, but as the news suggests this is only a start.

The News has also created a page that contains all of their articles relating to the North/South Gap initiative.   You can view that page by clicking here.

Washington, DC (Wednesday, November 14, 2007) Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson today called on President Bush to make the enactment of the 2008 Transportation, HUD appropriations bill, a top priority before Congress adjourns this year.

Congresswoman Johnson successfully secured $86,250,000 for Dallas Area Rapid Transit's new Green Line, currently under construction. Congresswoman Johnson also secured $250,000 for the Martin Luther King Family Center in Dallas.

The Administration said today that the President intends to veto the bill.

"The Transportation and Housing conference report addresses the important challenges of community development and keeping our transportation system safe and strong, and does so in a way that strengthens the economy and is environmentally responsible," stated Congresswoman Johnson. The Transportation and Housing Conference Report provides approximately $70 billion in federal funds for vital community development projects, highway, transit and other critical infrastructure programs throughout the country.

"Contrary to President Bush’s stance, our country cannot continue to put an arbitrary cost ceiling on investment in our public works. Simply put, this legislation is about meeting our commitments to the nation on protecting lives and livelihoods through bolstering our crumbling infrastructure."

Specifically, the conference report invests:  

·  Community Development Block Grants: $3.79 billion, $100 million above 2007, rejecting the President’s plan to cut the program by $822 million, to fund community and economic development projects in 1,180 localities. This level is still $400 million below 2001.  

·  $40 billion in the nation’s highway system for construction of new roads, repairs and improvements;  

·  $1 billion to address deficient bridges across America – accepting Senator Patty Murray’s amendment for a 25 percent boost to bridge funding – following the 1-35 collapse;  

·  Sufficient funds to renew all current housing vouchers, and provides 15,500 new vouchers for veterans, the disabled, and low income families;  

·  A 500 % increase in funds to alleviate problems caused by the sub-prime mortgage crisis by providing housing counseling to help homeowners stay in their homes;  

·  $3.5 billion for airport efficiency, modernization and safety grants;  

·  $1.45 billion for Amtrak;  

·  $110 million to provide access to air travel in rural communities; and  

·  Over $85 million to improve pipeline and rail safety.  

The House will soon vote on an override of the President’s cruel veto. 

The victory goes in the win column of Tom Leppert which makes him 3 for 3 in my book (election, runoff, Trinity).  Too bad the strong mayor initiative isn't coming up for a vote.

Tom Leppert has substantial political capital with me right now.  I've seen Mr. Leppert talking to citizens and sharing with families in places where there were no cameras around.  That's a novel concept for a politician.  I'm gonna give him a shot.

Another winner in my eyes is Angela Hunt.  She did what so many of us are afraid to do; sacrifice personal and political gain for what she felt was right. This was a close vote, and considering every other elected official in Dallas lined up against her, it went really well.

Dallas comes out as a two fold winner.  First the Trinity Project will move forward.  Leppert had vowed to move the project forward and with all of the officials that supported "No", they should know we'll all be watching.

Second, it caused the city to take a look at how politicians can take their electorate for granted.  At the end of the day, we are not getting what we want.  We are getting what "they" think is best.  An earlier intervention may have yielded a different outcome. 

Hopefully two words that Dallas citizens learned from this are PROJECT PEGASUS.  Think of the High 5 project, but in downtown Dallas (not a good thought).  This is what will eventually get traffic moving downtown. 

From DallasBlog.com

Texas Transportation Chairman Ric Williamson agreed there would be delays, but he said he can’t imagine a scenario where Project Pegasus would be scrapped, according to KERA. Project Pegasus is TxDOT’s plan to improve the Canyon/Mixmaster.
“If the toll road as envisioned now is radically changed, Project Pegasus will have to be redesigned. I’m not taking a position; it’s just a logical conclusion,” Williamson said. “Project Pegasus is so important to the clean air plan and congestion relief for North Texas. I can’t imagine a circumstance where it wouldn’t be redesigned and moved forward. It’s just that important.”

The Vote No! campaign and Michael Morris of the North Central Texas Council of Governments have continued to scare voters into believing that Project Pegasus depends on a reliever route. In fact, Morris’s 10 reasons to build the Trinity Parkway was published in The DMN and no. 5 says “creates opportunity to rebuild Canyon/Mixmaster.”

This is taken from the story’s intro.

Michael Morris, NCTCOG’s director of transportation, says that nearly $5 billion of needed transportation projects would be in jeopardy if voters pulled the plug on the Trinity Parkway. Without the planned toll road, improvements to roads such as Interstates 35E and 30 and U.S. Highways 67 and 175 cannot be made.

So you can choose to believe Morris, who has been giving presentations with the Vote No! campaign to help convince voters that voting yes will kill other needed transportation projects in Dallas, or you can believe Ric Williamson, who hasn’t inserted himself into this campaign and is the top transportation official in the state.

The Vote "No" people have not been straight with the citizens of Dallas in their reasoning.  They have used hot button issues to tug at emotions.  And I have been reluctant to align myself with the crew that has been assembled in the 'No' camp. 

But my No vote is based on a paragraph and a half that I read in the Dallas Morning News on August 15.  When I ran back across it in my research, it was just too much for me to ignore.

For a decade, TxDOT has crafted a two-pronged approach to unsnarling traffic through this critical spaghetti bowl of highways. Project Pegasus includes the redesign and reconstruction of the downtown interchange. And the Trinity Parkway provides congestion relief by carrying 90,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day.

This information came from Tim Nesbitt, Texas Department of Transportation project manager.  The downtown interchanges are embarrassing.  Project Pegasus should have happened long ago if Dallas' leaders had any vision.  

I will reluctantly vote "No."  I don't want their tollway in our park, but we can't go back to the drawing board. Our park may suffer for their lack of foresight, but now we have to look towards the future.