Stranded pedestrians in Dallas’ Joppa community get a lift from City Council
The southern Dallas community of Joppa got some much-needed relief Tuesday when the Dallas City Council allocated $500,000 to provide immediate, free, “on-demand” transportation via Dallas Area Rapid Transit during construction of a long-awaited pedestrian bridge over the nearby Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
Access has long been a problem in Joppa — pronounced jop-ee — a freedman’s town founded in 1872 by emancipated slave Henry Critz Hines. Joppa, with an estimated population of about 750, lies 6 miles southeast of downtown, between the wetlands of the Trinity River and the Union Pacific train tracks.
Adam Bazaldua, whose District 7 includes Joppa, was among those voting for the measure, which the council approved unanimously, with nary a murmur of dissent.
Even so, Bazaldua called it “an example of what should be considered a basic quality of life that we are unfortunately viewing as a celebration. Because, don’t get me wrong, this