Authorities want to bridge north and east Oak Cliff with a beautiful new deck park over Interstate 35E, but they may need to build more bridges with the community affected to get its full support.

While many residents support the idea of the Klyde Warren-like park near the Dallas Zoo, saying it could help spur much needed-development in the area, others at a Tuesday meeting were concerned about the high cost and driving more people to an already congested area.

“I think the money could be better spent on places like our libraries,” said Brandon Herrmann, who lives near the proposed park. “When I look at the plan I see something that is good primarily for the zoo, and maybe some developers."

Brandon Herrmann, one of the Oak Cliff residents speaking out against the deck park, said the money would be better spent on libraries.(Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News)

The proposed 5.5 acre deck park would physically reconnect north and east Oak Cliff, areas that had been torn apart decades ago by years of highway building. It would connect Marsalis Avenue to Ewing Avenue.

The North Texas Council of Governments has provided about $40 million toward the project, but the rest of the funding will be left to the city of Dallas. That total cost has not yet been determined, nor has Dallas identified exactly where its share of the money will come from for the joint project with TxDOT.

As part of a presentation earlier this year, city staff estimated the project would be broken up in two phases and would cost about $135 million overall, with about $95 million being funded by the city. But that number has fluctuated several times in the last year.

The deck park was part of recommendations from the TxDOT's CityMAP report last year that suggested several changes to the portion of I-35E, now dubbed the Southern Gateway, and the city streets around it. The study estimated the changes could spur more than $166 million in development for one of the poorest parts of Dallas.

Residents like Mathis Perkins, who has lived in the area his entire life, and Manny Rios said at the forum sponsored by TxDOT that they were very much for the park, saying it could help the area continue to grow and move forward.

“We need a very big catalyst to keep the progress going,” Rios said.

Perkins said this could be a way to bring people from all over North Texas to Oak Cliff, which could help boost the local economy.

Pressure is mounting for Dallas to figure out funding if the deck park — which is part part of the Southern Gateway plan — is to move forward. On Wednesday the Texas Transportation Commission was expected to select the developer of the Southern Gateway project. Construction on the rest of the project is expected to begin later this year, and the city must have identified a source of funding by July.

A rendering from a Conceptual Plan for the Southern Gateway Public Green, a deck park over I-35E from Marsalis Avenue to Ewing Avenue, adjacent to the Dallas Zoo

TxDOT officials said construction on the deck park could begin later this year, if funding is identified.

Though the structure would be built within the Texas Department of Transportation’s right of way, it would be owned and operated by the city of Dallas.

Last June, the Dallas City Council voted 9-6 to support the park. Council member Carolyn King Arnold has been one opposed. The park would provide a pedestrian link between Arnold’s council district and council member Scott Griggs’ north Oak Cliff district.

Arnold regularly calls the the idea a “wreck park,” and bashes her council colleagues for supporting the project. She has previously said she fears it would gentrify the area near the Dallas Zoo.

Arnold briefly attended Tuesday night’s meeting, but left well before the public hearing and public comment section.

Her opponent in the upcoming city council race for District 4, former City Council member Dwaine Caraway, did not attend the meeting.

Several people who spoke out against the project cited the cost, saying they would rather the money be put towards saving the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, or fixing aging streets and sidewalks.

“This is a matter of priorities,” said resident David King, citing the pension fund and the proposed upcoming Dallas bond package. “Let's deal with priorities we have, to solve the problems first. I appreciate Southern Gateway, but I have serious concerns about the deck park."

Dallas could pay for its share of the park through bonds, private partnerships or general funds. But whatever the source, the amount of money for the deck park would barely put a dent in the shortfall at the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.