The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation today released its equitable development plan for Southern Gateway Park, the landmark bridge park that will span Interstate 35E between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues, directly adjacent to the Dallas Zoo.

The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation today unveiled the master plan and design renderings for Southern Gateway Park, the landmark bridge park that will span Interstate 35E between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues, directly adjacent to the Dallas Zoo.

The just-released designs and renderings for this park between Ewing and Marsalis avenues play on our city’s lopsided topography: Nearly all of Dallas’ rolling hills, deep-running creeks and crusty cliffs and ridges are in the southern half. North of I-30 and the Trinity River, it’s nothing much but flat, flat, flat — all the way to Oklahoma.

The construction of Interstate 35E in the 1950s divided Oak Cliff. April Allen is the president of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. She spoke to KERA about her vision for the park.

The first phase set to open at the end of 2023, and the second phase will require some additional fundraising. You can also learn more about the project and see more renderings on its website. But after reading about the new park, I wanted to point out a couple of things that struck me about the project.

South Dallas will soon be home to the city’s newest greenspace known as Southern Gateway Park. Spanning I-35E adjacent to the Dallas Zoo, it’s being hailed as a “park with a purpose” – a playground, pavilion, garden, and more in the heart of Oak Cliff – but with deeper intentions than just recreation.

More than 50 years ago, the construction of Interstate 35E split and destroyed neighborhoods in Oak Cliff and South Dallas. Now, residents may soon see part of the city of Dallas' and the Texas Department of Transportation's efforts to "right the wrong" with a 5.5-acre deck park in Oak Cliff that will be constructed over a section of I-35E and connect South Dallas neighborhoods.

2020 has been a tremendous year of firsts for the Southern Gateway Park! I hope you will be inspired by the strides we have made and what is to come.

Known as the Southern Gateway Public Green, this 5.5-acre park is an opportunity to unite the eastern and western pieces of Oak Cliff.

The vote allows TxDOT to move forward with building the foundations and part of the deck park, which would stretch from Marsalis Avenue to Ewing Avenue.

There are anchors of activity in every city. When successful, they stimulate the neighborhood.