AARP Awards City of Dallas’ Transportation Department $20k Community Challenge Grant

By Marina Garcia

The City of Dallas is one of six communities in Texas to be granted AARP’s Community Challenge Grant in 2021, part of a nationwide initiative to promote and reward promising livable communities Initiatives that result in immediate improvements that support residents of all ages.

With the grant funding, the city will improve the Elam Road and N Jim Miller Road intersection. The grant will be used to purchase equipment that will upgrade current traffic signals and crosswalks of the intersection to “provide safe connectivity to people of all ages and abilities,” the city’s transportation department said.

The communities near the Elam Road and N Jim Miller intersection have a large number of Hispanics and African Americans and upgrading the area will improve access to economic opportunities for the neighborhood, the department said.

“The improved crosswalk would provide the surrounding communities with safer and more equitable access to the surrounding schools, churches, recreational trails, and public transportation,” the department added.

Improving the intersection will also help the City of Dallas to achieve its own initiatives such as the Age Friendly Dallas plan, the Resilience Dallas Strategy, the Comprehensive Environmental Climate Action Plan (CECAP), and Connect Dallas.

The transportation department noted that Dallas has worked on many efforts over the past several years to make the city more livable for all ages and the AARP Community Challenge will be helpful in supporting the goals of these ongoing efforts.

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