The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment is going back to Dallas City Council after the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee realized the current plan might unnecessarily inhibit the southern sector’s access to downtown.
In a 4-2 vote on Tuesday, the committee recommended to city council that the convention center project be reverted to the earlier design that would raise the building to “address problematic Jefferson Viaduct realignment.” The vote followed weeks of public outcry in North Oak Cliff, where residents and business owners have been stressing the importance of existing viaduct traffic flows to the neighborhood’s connectivity with the city center.
Earlier this year, staff updated the convention center design to realize roughly half a billion dollars in savings after receiving direction from council members to find ways to lower the project’s cost. Staff concluded it would be cheaper — and better for the convention center customer experience — to lower the building, foreclosing the possibility of allowing the Jefferson Boulevard Viaduct to run under the facility and into the heart of downtown as it currently does. Before the update, the price tag was estimated at between $3.5 billion and $3.7 billion…