November Newsletter
Our Asks of You
Attend the Friends Indeed Fundraiser!
You can bring your tax dollars back to North Dallas while helping to address the trail desert in our area! FoBL has secured matching funds for dollars raised at our November 17th fundraiser at SUZE Restaurant. Be a visionary and help make Bachman Lake a premier park, with fantastic nature trails and regional amenities. To RSVP go to friendsofbachmanlake.org/fundraiser. If you cannot make the fundraiser, please consider a donation so that we can secure the City match. Go to friendsofbachmanlake.org and select Donate from the menu
News
Vision Zero - Is that an eye exam?
Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has proved successful across Europe — and now it’s gaining momentum in major American cities. In September, Dallas City Council received a briefing from the city's Transportation department about Vision Zero. For too long, we’ve considered traffic deaths and severe injuries to be inevitable side effects of modern life. While often referred to as “accidents,” the reality is that we can prevent these tragedies by taking a proactive, preventative approach that prioritizes traffic safety as a public health issue.
The Bachman Lake area is a 'high intensity zone' for pedestrian and bike fatalities in the City of Dallas. This should come as no surprise to those of us that live in the area, given the lack of sidewalks and the speed of vehicular traffic. It is good to know that the City acknowledges the issues in the area, however we must continue to speak up for speed controls, safe cross-walks, sidewalks, trails and bridges. The best way to do this is to leverage the 3-1-1 City of Dallas mobile application!
It is clear that the City of Dallas departments function off of the 3-1-1 entries to prioritize their work. Yes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease! Please take the time to submit requests such as:
Flooding on Northwest Highway (under the Denton Drive bridge) after a heavy rain. To report this, enter a 311 request for Storm Drainage/Flooding ComplaintAdding speed controls on the south side of Bachman Lake. To report this, enter a 311 request for Speed Limit Change Request OR Road Hump/Speed Bump RequestRequesting street parking signs added to Shorecrest and Webb Chapel to allow for street parkingFix pot holes on Shorecrest (Pot Hole - Routine Repair)Adding sidewalks all along Northwest Highway! (New Alley/Sidewalk/Street Request)Adding a pedestrian / cycling lane at Webb Chapel bridge which is currently 5 feet wide and very dangerous (Bike Paths/Routes Maintenance)
First Annual Trunk-or-Treat
The wonderful Diana Lira single-handedly coordinated the first ever Bachman LakeTrunk-or-Treat and it was an amazing success! Partnering with Diana to make this event happen were: Bachman Lake Together, Bachman Northwest Highway Association, Dallas Parks and Recreation and of course, Friends of Bachman Lake.
Love Field Updates: Good Neighbor Program and Environmental Meeting
On October 15th, Love Field held their Good Neighbor Program meeting at the Bachman Lake Library. There were good questions and answers from the Airport and Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) representatives. The reality though is that community representation tends to lag with more city employees in the room than citizens. We are considering doing a live stream of the next event. What do you think? Until then, feel free to read our notes from the meeting. Here is the presentation they reviewed.
We did not do well in attending the Love Field Environmental meeting on October 24th, since the tornado got in the way. Many of our close FoBL friends were affected (thank goodness they are all safe!), so we are only able to share with you the actual presentation from the environmental meeting.
Events
Our monthly plogging event is every 2nd Saturday of the month from 6-7ish (or whatever time your coffee or daylight hours kick in). Bring one of those plastic bags we all have around the house and put it to good use. Walk the path or meander off of it and pick up trash. It’s great for the hamstrings! Give a shout-out to anyone you see walking around the lake with a plastic bag - they are clearly FoBLers!
Don't forget to fill out your Plogging Report when you're done. It's a great way to keep track of just how much trash is collected each month.
Also, don't forget to join us at our monthly ‘meeting of the minds’ at Bluffview Growler. It's on the 4th Wednesday of every month from 4-6PM. No RSVP needed.
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