Phase One of Southern Gateway Deck Park is Finally Happening

Details are scarce, but it looks like the first phase of the Southern Gateway deck park is finally in the works. 

The $82 million project over Interstate 35 will connect East and West Oak Cliff and serve as a “park with a purpose’ adjacent to the Dallas Zoo. 

McCarthy Building Companies and EJ Smith Construction held a pre-bid outreach event Tuesday, inviting all interested contractors to review bid documents and ask questions about the prequalification process. The project in southern Dallas between Ewing and Marsalis avenues is a public-private partnership of the City of Dallas, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. 

Southern Gateway Deck Park

While the project has been talked about for years, and fundraising efforts have been underway for quite some time, the news of a pre-construction meeting was music to the ears of Southern Gateway supporters. 

According to a fact sheet at southerngatewaypark.org, the 5.5-acre project is slated to open in late 2024. 

April Allen, president and chief operating officer of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, has said the project offers an opportunity to demonstrate and grow Dallas in a more equitable way. 

“The idea of having a park over a freeway came decades before it actually happened,” she said. “Dallas is a can-do city where we have these big ideas and we are persistent at seeing them come to life.” 

Construction of Phase One

The pre-construction meeting invitation revealed that project organizers aim for a 32 percent participation from Minority/Women Business Enterprise to ensure work is done by businesses owned, controlled, and operated by an ethnic minority or woman. 

The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation already has hired Dallas-based HKS Inc. to lead the design and engineering for the deck park.