DALLAS — Community members are worried erosion along the White Rock Lake Trail is a recipe for disaster and they want the city to do something about it.
Where the lake meets Garland Road there are long stretches of shoreline eroding.
“We’re standing on a part of White Rock Lake trail. It seems like solid ground, but, there's no land underneath us,” Carol Bell Walton said. "It has washed out that earth and embankment storm after storm after storm. So, what you're gonna see is caves.”
The ongoing erosion is putting the integrity of the trail and road at risk and potentially putting people in danger.
“The risk at this point is the collapse of the trail. Could be the collapse of the road. In 2006, we saw the collapse of the parking lot next door," Walton said.
As a member of the White Rock Lake Task Force, Walton has spent plenty of time surveying the park and first brought the issues with erosion to the city last year.
Then in January, the City of Dallas commissioned a study with Freese and Nichols on the washouts. The results came out in April 2024. They found multiple high-risk spots and said "failure of the trail will occur if something is not done to address the erosion.
On Sept. 18, Assistant Park & Rec Director Christina Turner-Noteware released a memo outlining the city's plan of action.
The memo said the city was working to award a design contract to a design firm specializing in sheet piling to address the erosion, and organizing a meeting with Dallas Water Utilities and TxDOT to discuss funding options for the sheet piling.
Then on Wednesday, five Park & Rec board members said in a memo sent to the board president that they never received the results of the study "despite a formal request at last week’s Park Board meeting that it be distributed to the full board."
"Given the critical nature of this issue, we would like to understand the delay in communication and what steps can be taken to ensure more timely and transparent communication going forward," the memo read.
The board members go on to say that they have several questions regarding efforts to manage the erosion including how to secure funding to address the issues, how the mitigation will be prioritized, and what is the root cause of the erosion.
Lane Conner who represents District 12, District 3's Vana Hammond, Scott Goldstein with District 10, District 11's Jeff Kitner, and Rudy Karimi who represents District 14 all signed the memo.
Their five-person request is to place the briefing on the erosion issues on the board's agenda.
"We look forward to discussing how we can work together to protect this invaluable resource," the memo read.
Those who use the trail, hope to see the work done soon.
"I hope they’re able to put in enough safety measures to make sure that it’s safe for everybody out here. There’s a lot of walkers, runners, and cyclists," Miranda Smith said.
“I mean it is a scary feeling knowing there is a hollow spot underneath," Zach Curtis said.
While Walton says she’s glad she was able to push to get something done, she won't be satisfied until there’s a more permanent fix.
