Consultant to study crashes, safety on Skillman Street in Lakewood

Dallas officials have commissioned a consultant to study vehicle crashes and traffic safety on a stretch of Skillman Street through northeast Dallas and Lakewood.

What’s happening?

Dallas City Council approved a contract with the consultant, Frisco-based engineering firm Kimley-Horn Associates, during its Sept. 27 meeting. In addition to the Skillman Street corridor, the contract includes a traffic study to be conducted on Maple Avenue from Oak Lawn Avenue to Mockingbird Lane and South Beacon Street from Samuell Boulevard to Reiger Avenue.

The section of Skillman Street being studied from Live Oak Street in Lakewood to Northwest Highway near Lake Highlands has a “disproportionately high” rate of vehicle crashes, according to City Council documents. The study is meant to evaluate safety and identify improvements to reduce the number of severe crashes on that corridor.

The study could advance the city’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths and reducing severe traffic-related injuries by 50% by 2030, according to City Council documents.

The timeline

Kimley-Horn staff is expected to begin the study in early 2024 with a projected completion in early 2025, a city spokesperson said.

The cost

The study will cost $749,600 with about $304,000 of the total being allocated for the Skillman Street corridor, the spokesperson said.

What they’re saying

“This has been an area of great concern for constituents of my district because of speeding and collisions on that stretch of Skillman,” Council Member Paul Ridley said at the Sept. 27 meeting. “I’m hopeful that this project will provide recommendations to achieve some of our goals with the Vision Zero plan.”