DALLAS — A Dallas father’s concern about safety near his child’s daycare is leading to change at a high-traffic East Dallas intersection.
The City of Dallas has approved a new traffic signal at Mockingbird Lane and Norris Street, thanks in part to a 3-1-1 request filed by East Dallas resident Doyle Rader.
“This is a high-volume traffic area and it’s not just during rush hour, it’s all day,” Rader said.
He says the stretch of Mockingbird Lane between Abrams Road and Skillman Street is especially dangerous.
“This is such a straight stretch of road between Abrams and Skillman,” he said. “People build up speed, and crossing becomes kind of a challenge for everyone.”
Even though signs ban left turns and U-turns, Rader says drivers routinely ignore them.
“I saw multiple cars just go left, pull U-turns. I saw big SUVs come through the intersection through traffic,” he said.
Last July, Rader submitted a 3-1-1 service request to the city. After months of updates, he received confirmation that a traffic light had been approved.
“They said that they were working on it in February, and then I got a notification in early March saying that a light was actually warranted at this intersection,” Rader said.
The City of Dallas says a traffic study showed that crash data didn’t meet the requirements for a light — but other factors did.
“The side street volumes were enough to where people trying to come out of Norris were experiencing very heavy delay. Which is a criteria we use to see, OK, you know, we need to install a signal so we could actually assign right away to the side streets,” said Auro Majumdar, assistant director of traffic engineering and operations for the city.
Neighbors say the intersection causes daily frustration.
“My bedroom is, you know, right there, so it’s, you know. I can hear, you know, cars speeding by very fast,” said Courtney Ilfrey, who lives nearby. “There’s always kind of like a lot of blockage, you know, right here at the intersection.”
Majumdar says the city is now working to secure funding to build the signal. For Rader, the effort was about more than just convenience.
“My entire purpose for doing these things is because I see an issue and I want to make, you know, some small part of our city a little bit safer for people,” he said.
