A PREMATURE FUNERAL JUNE

Rumors of the Trinity toll road’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Celebrants threw a New Orleans parade-style funeral for the Trinity toll road in the Bishop Arts District last year, but it was just wishful thinking. God love ’em. This photo does not portray the actual end of the toll road. Mayor Mike Rawlings announced in November that, using funds from wealthy donors, the city had hired a “dream team” of six out-of-state urban planners to design the toll road and Trinity River park. The six had been expected to present their proposal in a series of community meetings beginning in December. After that, they would rework their plan based on community feedback. The city is expected to find out this month whether the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will allow a freeway to be built between the levees. After that, the North Texas Tollway Authority will assess whether building the highway would be profitable for them. All of this means that actual construction of a toll road between the Trinity River levees could begin as soon as this year. In other words, it’s not dead yet.

Oak Cliff Cinco De Mayo May

The Oak Cliff Cinco de Mayo parade is the biggest of its kind in Texas. The parade travels down Jefferson Boulevard from Zang to Polk, with vendors and party people all along the way. Since former City Councilwoman Delia Jasso first pitched reworking Jefferson in the image of Barcelona’s Las Ramblas a few years ago, politicians and developers have been trying to figure out a way to make over the boulevard while keeping its Latino tradition. The Ramblas idea faded away, but Jefferson Boulevard is changing. Jim Lake Cos. is renovating the Jefferson Tower, leasing ground-floor space to hip businesses — a craft ice-cream shop, a micro brewer, a high-end coffee roaster — and offering loft apartments with rents upward of $1,000 a month. But he says he doesn’t want all the quinceañera seamstresses and western-wear specialists to be shoved out. Lake hired as an intern Adamson High School standout and Georgetown University scholar Adan Gonzalez last summer. Part of Gonzalez’s job was to reach out to Jefferson Tower’s Latino neighbors in an effort to find out what they want for the neighborhood. That’s how Lake came up with the idea for Jefferson Tower Mercado, which he plans to launch soon. The market, in a 7,000-square-foot space next door to Family Dollar, will offer small retail spaces for local artists, crafters and start-ups. Jefferson Boulevard is going to change. But there will always be Cinco de Mayo.