Love Field Needs a Second Entrance, And Dallas Needs Better Access to City Information

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On August 20, the Parks and Recreation Board received a briefing from the Aviation Department about potential scenarios for adding a second entrance for Love Field – an idea that’s been kicking around for a few years.

(Before we dive in, a reminder to paid and unpaid city staff working from home – Zoom requires more oomph than your dial-up AOL.)  

I agree that Love Field needs a second entrance because it does – something a few Park board members remain unconvinced of. Here’s the thing. Yes, Love Field is currently capped by its hours of operation (6 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and the number of gates (20). Given a set amount of ground time per plane (boarding, de-boarding, and cleaning) we’re not looking at significant increases in capacity – but we are.

Things Change

If the size of airplanes increases, that incrementally increases raw passenger counts. The increase in ride-sharing services has increased traffic wherever they go – much to the deaf ears of the green generation.

Think about it.

A car is called originating at point “A” travels to pick-up at point “B” it then continues to destination “C” and then passenger exits and empty car continues to point “D” (each way). A two-legged roundtrip becomes six.

In addition, the Park board may have missed population growth. I would hazard a guess that Love Field wouldn’t need a second entrance if Dallas population surrounding the airport remained at 1973 levels (the year before Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport opened).

More Flights, More Fliers

Surprising (at first) is the fact that even though Love Field is Dallas’ step-airport, it’s generating more planes in and out than in 1973’s heyday. Why?  In 1973, a smaller percentage of the population flew and they flew less often, on emptier planes that were in the air less. Today, flying is akin to taking the bus in 1973.

So between a 64.7 percent increase in population and a 28.97 percent increase in airport utilization, Mockingbird Lane and Cedar Springs Road (which haven’t grown in size) are pinched. The Wright Amendment kept Love Field way under capacity, which enabled the area to become more populous without most noticing.

A third wrinkle of airline scheduling makes matters worse. Airlines love the last-minute, full-price business traveler. To service them, airlines want flights in the early morning (so travelers can salvage the workday) and a similar reverse tango at the end of the business day. This equates to air rush hours making ground rush hours worse.

Stirred together, it’s unsurprising that Love Field (and Mockingbird) need some relief from their 80,000 daily vehicles.

Fourth quarter 2019: 45 percent come from north; most between Tollway and Central. Source Southwest Airlines

Opposition by Beneficiaries?

Forty-five percent of local Love Field users come from the north. This means that if there was a way to short-circuit their travel (avoiding Mockingbird or Lemmon), both passenger time and roadway trips could be reduced.

And this is where I’m mystified. The semi-finalists (we’ll get there in a minute) avoid Mockingbird and a few avoid Lemmon, too. And yet, folks from the north (45 percent of Love Field traffic) are already complaining about a second entrance on the north or west sides of Love Field.

One public commenter asked about the impact of “doubling traffic” on surrounding neighborhoods. Rerouting traffic off city streets and more quickly onto airport property is meant to improve traffic.

Choosing the status quo over a fix is nonsense.

Park Board Briefing

I know it took a while, but I suspect you needed some groundwork before diving in. Mark Duebner, Dallas’ director of aviation, presented a bit of history and then discussed how the 11 potential candidates were whittled to five (meeting presentation here). Essentially, six were dumped because they didn’t meet the criteria of reducing traffic/vehicle miles, adding a people mover to connect with DART, and a second entrance/exit to Love Field.

Immediately, some board members let it be known that they felt miffed that the aviation department dumped candidates without them (the whiff of self-importance permeated Zoom). For five of the six dumped, I say boo-hoo. Those five were essentially ways to re-stir Mockingbird Lane in bizarre ways with no benefit (and outside Park board’s jurisdiction anyway).

The sixth was utilizing Denton Drive on the west side of the airport that would also share a tunnel with a leg off DART’s Burbank station bringing DART into Love Field. Aviation ditched it because the grade change was too steep for DART. But, as one board member stated, routes can be modified to work with slope – and I agree.

But I Don’t Completely Agree

However, I likely do not agree with using Denton Drive for vehicular traffic. I say likely because my opinion is predicated on (as yet not done) traffic studies that map the routes northerners currently take to get to Love Field.

If a majority take the Tollway to Mockingbird or Northwest Highway, then I fear Denton Drive will be too far afield for enough to change their driving pattern.

If true, I see an underground DART connection between Burbank station and Love Field and a vehicular entrance from Northwest Highway and Webb Chapel. A bridge exists over Bachman Lake that could dead-end at a tunnel under the airport to the terminals and parking. The only downside I see is the proximity of Webb Chapel to the major intersection at Lemmon/Marsh Lane – limiting car stacking.

Yes, my plan is likely more than (self-funded) aviation wants to spend, but as no option as yet has prices, I can dream.

Error for Love Field Modernization Program

Aviation’s Grounded Website

I have to first say that the Duebner was informative and patient in the face of board members’ poor internet connections (seven months into the Zoom era). However, he mentioned that all this stuff – meeting notices, meeting minutes, surveys, etc. – is all posted on their website. Yeah sure.

Aviation’s main page links to “news.” From there, a click on “News Releases” returns a blank page – ditto “LFMP Newsletters.”  Clicking on “Love Field Modernization Program” returns Error 1016 (above). More blank pages can be found throughout the “news” page including the 2010 Modernization report for the 2010 bond and both the summary and full report on the “Love Field Impact Analysis Update.”

Well done.

But what about that survey?  From the Department of Aviation’s home, click on “Airports” and select “Love Field,” from there you click on the Dallas Love Field Official Website (why aviation didn’t just take you there is unknown). From there you have to roll-over “Airport Info” and select “Airport Projects.” Scroll to the very bottom and click on “DAL Alternative Entry” and – SEVEN MOTIONS LATER – there you are. Easy peasy!

From that page you can sign up for emails about meetings and take the survey – scrolling all the way to the bottom again, there is (finally) tons of information including recordings of other meetings.  Once you’re kinda up to speed, I suggest reading the FAQ document.

Note to City of Dallas: I routinely find a lot of dead links. This says not only is there a website maintenance issue, but that citizens aren’t using it. How about a different delivery model?

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

Several park board members questioned the rush – especially in the wake of COVID-19 because a few weren’t sure air travel would ever recover making a second entrance unneeded. Puh-lease. I’m already making lists of places I want to go ASAP so I can see them before they’re overrun again with tourists (like me). I was in London in the first week of March and it seems a lifetime ago. Trust me, air travel will be back sooner than anyone thinks if I have to do it myself.

This is a multi-year project that will last for 50-100 years during which time things will only get worse and more expensive. Not planning while capacity is reduced simply wastes time.

Park Board’s Line in The Lake

Essentially, the park board said that cutting through Bachman Lake was a non-starter – and I agree. No new road should be built over Bachman Lake. A new northern entrance has to be east or west of the lake or (as I like) use the existing bridge at Webb Chapel leading to a tunnel.

At several points during the Park board meeting, I thought how much easier this would all be if Dallas had a subway. Imagine if the Green/Orange lines that run west of Love Field were underground. Building a short spur to Love Field would be the cheapest option to connect DART to Love Field.

After listening to the park board meeting, I reminded a council member of the need for underground subways. Every city that started with a measly subway added to it. The counties surrounding San Francisco fought bringing BART around the bay in the 1960s. They’re finally doing it now, but how much easier and cheaper would it have been 60 years ago? Regardless of how much more the right decision costs today, the right decision tomorrow always costs more.

Even if it’s a less-than-ideal spur for Love Field or D2, Dallas has to get underground. With aboveground becoming more covered, underground is the only way to solve big transportation issues without ripping apart or tearing up existing neighborhoods.

(Wasn’t it nice to at least read about an airport planning for the future – when we all start flying again?)

Jon Anderson is CandysDirt.com's condo/HOA and developer columnist, but also covers second home trends on SecondShelters.com. An award-winning columnist, Jon has earned silver and bronze awards for his columns from the National Association of Real Estate Editors in both 2016, 2017 and 2018. When he isn't in Hawaii, Jon enjoys life in the sky in Dallas.

1 Comment

  1. Roger Huffman on September 9, 2020 at 10:02 am

    When things pick up again the area where rideshare picks up needs revamped. It can get very congested down there and rude drivers make it difficult to get through. Some cities are using the nearby parking lots but I know that’s revenue for the airport. But it needs attention. Plus fights don’t stop till nearly 1am but the security leaves at midnight leaving a free for all

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