The Dallas Pedestrian Network or Dallas Pedway is a system of grade-separated walkways covering thirty-six city blocks of

Downtown Dallas Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. The system connects buildings, garages and parks through

tunnels A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube const ...

and above-ground

skybridges A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

. The network contains an

underground city An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of th ...

of shops, restaurants and offices during weekday

business hours Business hours are the hours during the day in which business is commonly conducted. Typical business hours vary widely by country. By observing common informal standards for business hours, workers may communicate with each other more easily ...

. The underground network was the idea of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

urban planner

Vincent Ponte Vincent Pasciuto Ponte (October 27, 1919 – February 9, 2006) was a Canadian Modernist urban planner in Montreal, Quebec. Ponte was born in Boston, MA. Ponte received a fine arts degree from Harvard and worked for the architecture firm I.M. Pei ...

, who was also responsible for Montreal's Underground City.

Connected to the Dallas Pedestrian Network

Hotels: *

Sheraton Dallas Hotel The Sheraton Dallas Hotel, formerly the Adam's Mark Hotel and originally the Southland Center, is a complex of International Style skyscrapers located in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The hotel is the largest and second tal ...

* Fairmont Hotel
Dallas Marriott Downtown
*

Hotel Indigo Hotel Indigo is a chain of small, individually owned boutique hotels, which is part of IHG Hotels & Resorts. As of December 2021, there were 130 Hotel Indigo properties featuring 16,343 rooms worldwide. History The first Hotel Indigo opened i ...

* Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown * Westin
Cambria Dallas Downtown
( Tower Petroleum Building) Office Buildings: * Comerica Bank Tower * Chase Tower *

1700 Pacific 1700 Pacific is a skyscraper located at 1700 Pacific Avenue in the City Center District, Dallas, Texas, City Center District of Dallas, Texas. The building rises and contains 49 floors of office space. It is currently the seventh tallest buildin ...

* Bank of America Plaza *

Renaissance Tower Renaissance Tower may refer to the following in the United States: * Renaissance Tower (Dallas) * Renaissance Tower (Sacramento) * Renaissance Center The Renaissance Center (also known as the GM Renaissance Center and nicknamed the RenCen) is ...

Fountain Place Fountain Place is a 60-story late-modernist skyscraper in downtown Dallas, Texas. Standing at a structural height of , it is the fifth-tallest building in Dallas, and the 15th-tallest in Texas. (If the antennas and spires of the Renaissance T ...

* Plaza of the Americas *

Bryan Tower The Bryan Tower is a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas. The building rises . It contains 40 floors, and was completed in 1973. The Bryan Tower currently stands as the 19th-tallest building in the city. The architect who designed the building was Neuhau ...

KPMG Centre 717 Harwood is a skyscraper in Downtown Dallas, Texas. The building rises . It contains 34 floors, and was completed in 1980. 717 Harwood currently stands as the 22nd-tallest building in the city. The building is well known for its sloping ext ...

Patriot Tower One Dallas Center (formerly Patriot Tower) is a modernist skyscraper located in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas, completed in 1979. The building has 30 floors and rises 448 feet (137 meters). One Dallas Center is currently tied ...

* Energy Plaza *

Ross Tower Ross Tower is a 45-story high-rise in Downtown Dallas, Texas. Originally named Lincoln Plaza, the building was renamed to Ross Tower in September 2013. The building rises to a height of 579 feet (176 m) and was completed in 1984. Currently, it ...

* One Main Place *

Republic Center Republic Center is a mixed-use complex at 300 N. Ervay Street and 325 N. St. Paul Street in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas ( USA), adjacent to Thanks-giving Square. The complex is located diagonally across the street from D ...

* Pacific Place *

1600 Pacific Tower 1600 Pacific Tower, also known as the LTV Tower (and also originally National Bank of Commerce Building), is a skyscraper in the City Center District of Dallas, Texas, USA. The building rises 434 feet (132 meters). The structure contains 33 floor ...

The Drever The National is a 52-story, skyscraper in the Main Street district of downtown Dallas, Texas, adjacent to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Akard Station. It is the tenth tallest building in the city. In January 2010 the building was closed ...

Parks * Cancer Survivors Plaza *

Thanks-Giving Square Thanks-Giving Square is a private park and public facility anchoring the Thanksgiving Commercial Center district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Dedicated in 1976, the complex consists of three components: a landscaped garden and non-den ...

Residential Buildings *

Titche-Goettinger Building Titche-Goettinger (later known as Titche's) was a department store chain based in Dallas, Texas (United States). It was established in 1902 and was a major player in the Dallas retail market until its merger with Joske's, which was later absor ...

* Gables Republic
1900 Pacific Residences
(

Corrigan Tower Corrigan Tower, also known as 1900 Pacific or 1900 Pacific Residences, is a high rise located at 1900 Pacific Avenue in the City Center District of Dallas, Texas. The building contains 20 floors, now made up of apartments but originally office ...

)
1505 Elm
Other * First Baptist Church *

Universities Center at Dallas The Universities Center at Dallas is part of the UNT System. It used to be controlled by the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD). It is located in the historic Titche-Goettinger Building in the Main Street District area of downtown D ...

* Majestic Garage * Elm Street Garage * Metropolitan Garage

Changing attitudes

In 2005, then-mayor

Laura Miller Laura Miller (born November 18, 1958) is an American journalist and politician who served as the 58th mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2002 through 2007. She decided not to run for re-election in 2007. She was the third woman to serve as mayor of Da ...

told the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' the system of tunnels was "the worst urban planning decision that Dallas has ever made... if I could take a cement mixer and pour cement in and clog up the tunnels, I would do it today". The Dallas Pedestrian Network is targeted for de-emphasis by the Downtown Dallas 360 initiative, in an effort to bring more focus on street-level activity. While initial plans had called for a more direct shutdown, a report in April 2012 concluded that a series of measures discouraging further growth or unnecessary maintenance of the system were all that were called for; Downtown Dallas Inc. CEO John Crawford concluded, " he underground tunnelsaren't much of an issue anymore."

References

External links

Official WebsiteMap of Pedestrian System on Google MapsPhotos of Pedestrian Network
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110818073906/http://id.erudit.org/revue/uhr/2009/v37/n2/029574ar.pdf "Ultramodern Underground Dallas: Vincent Ponte’s Pedestrian-Way as Systematic Solution to the Declining Downtown" by Charissa N. Terranova
The Dallas Morning News, "Walking the Underground Tunnel"
Buildings and structures in Dallas Tunnels in Dallas Underground cities {{dallas-stub