Major accident in East Dallas renews neighbors’ calls for change

A serious weekend crash in East Dallas sparked renewed calls from neighbors for safer streets.

Dallas police were called in a serious incident on Lakeland Drive’s Garland Road around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

According to a sworn statement of probable cause filed by Dallas police, 22-year-old Arianna Alvarez was driving drunk and quickly crashed into the back of a stopped GMC Terrain at a stoplight on Garland Road.

The force of the accident caused the GMC Terrain to roll over.

Four people on the GMC compound were taken to hospital, including two women with serious injuries.

Alvarez was also taken to the hospital in critical condition. He faces two episodes of assault while intoxicated causing grievous bodily harm.

Natalie Montgomery lives nearby and petitioned the city to change Garland Road and nearby Ferguson Road after several fatal crashes.

Neighbors have been complaining for a long time that people drive too fast, some are in a hurry, and some are rushing along the road.

“It’s become such a freeway that we can hear racing for hours at night and it’s become commonplace,” Montgomery said.

Garland Road passes through East Dallas but is also State Highway 78 and is overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation.

“When this road was built, it was built as a highway between Dallas and Garland and still has six lanes. It doesn’t make sense,” Dallas City Council member Paula Blackmon said. “The speeds are crazy and we need to work on measures to reduce traffic.”

Blackmon said state oversight is limiting the engineering changes the city can make to Garland Road, but remains hopeful the city and state can find solutions.

The area is becoming increasingly popular, attracting walkers to White Rock Lake and the many small businesses that have opened in recent years.

A city spokesman said the Department of Transportation is working on community issues on Garland Road between I-635 and I-30, adding that the city will work with TxDOT and the North Central Texas Council of Governments to study the portion of Garland Road from Garland/Gaston. /Large intersection with I-30.

The City also said it has improved traffic lights from N. Buckner Boulevard to Northwest Highway and plans to add a new traffic light at the intersection of Emerald Isle Drive and Garland Road.

Montgomery said he would continue to perform.

“If we don’t act, fatal accidents will continue,” Montgomery said.

Blackmon said the study of the nearby Ferguson Road corridor is nearing completion and engineers will present ideas to the community on how to make it safer this spring.

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