Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of the Dallas North Central Expressway Construction on Businesses

Abstract

Reconstruction of the Dallas North Central Expressway is one of the largest construction projects undertaken by the Texas Department of Transportation. The $450 million, 18-km highway and light-rail corridor is being stage constructed under heavy commuting and Interstate traffic and a variety of strategies have been undertaken to mitigate the adverse impacts on traffic flow and businesses. The findings of various surveys conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the business mitigation policies, including the impact on sales and access of business sales data reported to the state comptroller, an examination of multitenant occupancy rates for office space in the catchment area, and an analysis of businesses that either closed or opened are reported here. Somewhat surprisingly, more businesses opened than closed during construction. Recommendations are made on which policies can be utilized in other metropolitan areas of Texas and the United States.

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