The city’s nonprofit partner in a 50-mile trail project called “The Loop” has said it will walk away from the project if the city hires its own engineering firm to design the Sylvan Discovery Gateway Project near West Dallas, according to a demand letter from a lawyer representing The Loop Dallas.
The Loop Dallas cites provisions in its contract that allow the nonprofit to select and retain design firms for the project. Any changes require mutual agreement between the city and The Loop Dallas.
The city’s transportation and public works department replaced The Loop’s contractor — Simon Engineering and Consulting, Inc. — with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
That hasn’t sat well with the nonprofit that’s been guiding the mammoth project.
If the city does not back away from, the nonprofit would no longer commit donor-submitted funds for design and engineering for the project, or provide project management services that include securing rights of way and needed approvals, the letter obtained by The Dallas Morning News said.
It’s unclear how those actions would impact the completion of the project. So far the city and The Loop have secured nearly $115 million to complete the project, which will connect nearly a dozen separate trails into a single circuit around the city.
The letter says Philip Hiatt Haigh, The Loop’s executive director, notified John Jenkins, park director, of “foregoing issues with the Gateway Project,” that went unresolved at a subsequent meeting on May 13.
The News has has attempted to the city and The Loop for comment, but they did not immediately respond Tuesday evening.
Jenkins said it was “unprecedented that a partner would take such an action,” according to a May 27 letter obtained by The News. He said Gus Khankarli, director of the transportation and public works department, was concerned about safety and design standards and was funding additional design work that could modify the trail and extend the timeline.
But The Loops’ attorneys said the change takes away its control of the project.
“If [the city’s transportation and public works department] is allowed to unilaterally select its own designer of record and contractor and effectively change the product The Loop Dallas designed, The Loop Dallas is no longer a partner in the construction and development [of the project],” the letter said.
The Discovery Gateway will connect the Design District and the areas around the Trinity River through the Strand and Skyline trails. The project will add a trail for walkers and bikers by replacing a car lane on each side of the Sylvan Avenue bridge and is part of a vision that goes all the way down to Lemmon Lake near Interstate 45, through the Great Trinity Forest, north toward White Rock Lake and finally Turtle Creek to close the loop.
Funding for the project has come from a mix of public and private money. The nonprofit and the city entered into a $43 million public-private partnership with the city of Dallas in 2019, a major catalyst to begin adding 11 miles of trails to the 39 miles already built.