DART has finally made a decision: After taking out another 18-wheeler on Tuesday, the killer bridge at Garland Road near the White Rock Lake spillway has got to go. Morgan Lyons, DART spokesman, tells Dallas' Only Daily that the transportation agency has issued an order to its construction contractor to remove the abandoned stretch of rusted steel trestle within 45 days. It'll cost about $80,000, probably a fraction of what the darned thing has cost truckers over the last few years.
Since the city doesn't keep records of trucks that have been scalped by the low-clearance bridge, no one will ever know how much damage the unused railway bridge has caused. What took DART and/or the city of Dallas and/or the Texas Department of Transportation so long to come to this conclusion is a mystery. But neighborhood residents can look forward to a new and much higher bike-and-hike bridge at the convergence of Garland and Gaston roads. For the truckers' sakes, I'm glad the ugly beast will be gone. But does this mean a lot more trucks will be steaming up Garland Road toward the lake? Yikes. --Glenna Whitley