Fourth of July: Dallas adds road closures, celebratory gunfire ban

DALLAS - This Fourth of July weekend, the Dallas Police Department will try a new strategy to increase safety and stop traffic gridlock across the city.

The need for change was clear after drivers parked directly on the highway to watch fireworks for New Year's Eve, snarling traffic and preventing emergency vehicles from moving around.

Illegal Fireworks and Random Gunfire Concerns

What we know:

Dallas police will put more officers in some neighborhoods where there are safety concerns, rolling out a plan to crack down on celebratory gunfire. The clear message from officials is, "Don't do it."

By the numbers:

There have been more than 12,000 calls for random gunfire in Dallas this year alone. 

Between July 1 and July 5 of last year, there were over 5,700 calls for random gunfire.

What they're saying:

Many of those calls came from the Highland Hills area in Oak Cliff. Video from last Fourth of July shows a strip center in the 3500 block of Simpson Stuart Road at Bonnie View Road where fireworks – which are illegal in the city – could be seen exploding in the parking lot around the Food Basket grocery store. The store manager reported that guns were firing as well.

"I'm afraid for the building to get burned to the ground or damaged or whatever," said Joshua Southers, the Food Basket store manager. "Every year I get multiple calls in the night from the alarms going off so it's not good."

A few minutes south in Dixon Circle last July 5, folks in the neighborhood came together to clean up all the trash and debris left behind by people who poured into the area to celebrate the holiday, leaving Dixon Circle filthy.

"Fireworks, trash... it was like a party. Bottles, alcohol, glass and stuff, so we don't want that in this community," said Calvin D. Johnson, an attorney who grew up in Dixon Circle.

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux addressed those two neighborhoods specifically in the city's safety plan.

"We have checked the data from last year, and we looked at the complaints that have come in a couple of areas that I'll highlight – one being Highland Hills and Dixon Circle. We will have a higher presence in those areas," Chief Comeaux said.

Holiday Traffic and Road Closures

What we know:

New Year's Eve saw all arteries into the city clogged with motorists stopped and people out watching the fireworks, while some were firing weapons. Emergency vehicles couldn’t move around.

Dallas police said the traffic safety plan for this holiday weekend is the answer to that problem.

Chief Comeaux said after the traffic snarl on New Year's Eve, he wanted to make certain it didn't happen again in Downtown Dallas, resulting in this newly structured traffic safety plan.

Starting at 9 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights, there will be specific and full road closures to keep motorists off the interstate and service roads.

• Friday Night: Closures will be concentrated around the FIFA Fan Fest and the fireworks at Fair Park.
• Saturday Night: Closures will be enacted around Klyde Warren Park.

What they're saying:

Dallas police said the holiday weekend should be about making memories, not emergencies.

"Please do not park your vehicles on the freeway, roadway, or in this intermediate area around the outer corner of Fair Park. There will be zero tolerance. Your vehicle will be subject to tow, and you will get a ticket," said Sgt. Kelvin Polk with the Dallas Police Department.