The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision (FEIS/ROD) in April 2021, along with the 30% Preliminary Engineering (PE) plans. Since that time, DART, the City of Dallas, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) completed the East End Evaluation to review potential changes in the eastern end of the corridor at the direction of Dallas City Council. That East End Evaluation resulted in the recommendation of a new alignment (Option 3-7a) for the eastern end of the project. This revised alignment (shown on the map below) was approved by the DART Board of Directors and Dallas City Council on the dates listed below.
February 9, 2022 – Dallas City Council
February 22, 2022 – DART Board of Directors
DART is now taking steps to advance the project as directed, including amending the Service Plan for the revised alignment and advancing Project Development (preliminary engineering and environmental clearance) for the new east-end segment.
View the July 12, 2022 pre-public hearing informational presentation:
D2 Subway Revised Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) (approved February 2022)
Learn more about how D2 Subway is important for North Texas.
D2 Subway Project History and Current Efforts
The D2 Subway project has evolved over time based on public and stakeholder engagement and changing conditions. The current phase is D2 Subway East End Project Development. This phase will advance the new east-end alignment up to 30% preliminary design, including an Environmental Assessment (EA). Click on any of the boxes below to learn more about the project history and previous efforts, including reports, documentation, and meetings.
D2 Subway Final EIS/ Record of Decision and 30% Design
On April 9, 2021, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in cooperation with DART, issued the notice of the availability of the D2 Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision (FEIS/ROD) along with the 30% design to the public, stakeholders, and agencies. The FEIS/ROD includes responses to comments from the public and agency review of the Supplemental Draft EIS (SDEIS). After taking into consideration the feedback from residents, business owners, developers, and agency staff, a few changes have been made to the project to enhance access and minimize impacts.
The completion of the FEIS/ROD environmentally cleared the project so it could continue to advance. DART had been working closely with FTA to position the project for federal funding as a core capacity project and entry into the next phase of the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program known as Engineering. However, due to the agency staff consensus on an east-end alignment change, DART notified FTA in October 2021 that the request to enter Engineering would be postponed until decisions were made based on the east-end evaluation and the additional design and environmental work completed.
Dallas City Council Resolution and East End Evaluation Process
On March 24, 2021, the Dallas City Council approved a resolution to advance the D2 Subway, including support to issue the FEIS/ROD and submit the Project to FTA for review. The resolution also supported adding the project to the DART Service Plan, subject to additional evaluation of project refinements, enhancements, and/or modifications along the east end of the project (referred to as Zone B). Zone B concerns related to opposition by the Deep Ellum Foundation and impacted property owners. Additionally, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) I-345 Feasibility Study was still in progress, and more coordination was desired as they worked towards a preferred alternative by the end of 2021.
Continued Dallas City Council support was subject to an agreement by and between the City, DART, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), and TxDOT, as well as a subsequent City Council resolution no later than March 2022. Thus, all four agencies worked together during 2021 to evaluate potential east-end refinements, enhancements, and/or modifications to address community concerns and optimize the interface with future I-345 design options. The public and downtown stakeholders were engaged throughout the process at key milestones prior to a technical recommendation. In October 2021, agency staff reached a consensus to advance option 3-7a on the east end of the corridor.
A revised Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) incorporating the east-end change was approved by the DART Board and Dallas City Council in February 2022.
Two public meetings were held during the east-end evaluation. You can view meeting materials and meeting presentations below.
East End Project Development (Current Effort)
30% Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Clearance to start in late Summer 2022.
With the approval of a revised Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) incorporating the east-end change, DART is now working with the FTA to advance the preliminary design and prepare to support environmental documentation for the new east-end alignment.
One of the first steps to advance the project as directed is to amend the DART Service Plan for the revised alignment. July 12, 2022, a public hearing will support future actions by the DART Board.
In the later summer of 2022, DART will initiate Project Development (preliminary engineering and environmental clearance) for the new east-end segment. As that effort is started, project meetings and documentation will be posted to this webpage.
D2 Subway Project Schedule
The DART Board approved the FY22 20-Year Financial Plan in September 2021, which includes the D2 Subway project as a $1.94 billion capital line item assuming an approximate 50% federal grant and opening date by the year 2030. With the east-end alignment change, the capital cost and opening year will need to be updated after the additional design is completed. It is anticipated that additional design and environmental efforts will take 18-24 months. In the interim, the DART Board plans to consider an adjusted project schedule within the FY23 20-Year Financial Plan, which will be approved in September 2022.
DART plans to conduct due diligence studies on the project timing given COVID-19 and changed travel behaviors to support adjustments within the 20-Year Financial Plan. These studies would be done concurrently with the additional design and environmental efforts on the revised east-end segment to support a decision in 2024 or earlier.
What is the D2 Subway?
The D2 Subway project is a proposed second light rail line through downtown Dallas that extends from Victory Park to Deep Ellum. DART began planning for D2 in 2007. Since then, several studies and planning efforts have been completed (see below for PROJECT HISTORY AND BACKGROUND). The most recent efforts resulted in both the Dallas City Council and the DART Board of Directors approving a revised Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) in February 2022. This revised LPA adjusted the east end of the original LPA from September 2017.
Why is D2 Needed?
The existing downtown light rail line is the at-grade Bryan/Pacific Transitway Mall. The D2 Subway will help to ensure the sustainability of the DART system by providing needed capacity and improving system reliability and passenger service through downtown Dallas. Reliance upon one single LRT transit route through downtown constrains the ability of both DART and the region to implement additional radial light rail line projects or increase service levels on all existing radial light rail lines. Dependence on one single downtown mall also increases the risk for system-wide service disruption due to incidents in the mall, such as traffic accidents and closure of the mall due to fire in adjacent buildings.
Once in place, DART proposes to reroute the Blue and Orange lines to the D2 Subway. The Red and Green lines would remain on the existing Transit Mall. Rerouting the Blue and Orange lines will free up capacity on both downtown lines so that DART can insert additional train service to meet increasing ridership demands as the region continues to grow.
Project Description
Alignment
The Project alignment begins south of Victory Station. It moves south through a switch off the existing railroad alignment and then proceeds in a southeasterly direction along DART-owned right-of-way within Victory Park within the median of Museum Way and through the parking lot on the west side of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Adjacent to the Perot Museum will be an at-grade light rail station (Museum Way Station). After leaving the station southbound, the alignment crosses under Woodall Rodgers Freeway at street level and then begins its transition underground. The alignment enters a property currently occupied by a parking lot but planned for future development and descends into a tunnel within the portal area. The alignment remains underground through the core of Downtown until it reconnects near the existing tunnel portal along IH 345 at Ross Avenue. After passing under Hord Street near the Dallas World Aquarium, the alignment turns under Griffin Street. Between San Jacinto Avenue and Elm Street would be an underground station (Metro Center Station). This station would provide the ability to transfer to a reconfigured West Transfer Center, Rosa Parks Plaza, and the West End and Akard light rail stations.
After crossing under Main Street, the alignment turns east under Belo Garden and continues under Commerce Street. While under Commerce, another underground station is planned approximately between Akard and Ervay Streets (Commerce Station). After passing under St. Paul Street, the alignment turns northeast under Main Street Garden, continues north under Harwood, and then passes under Pacific Avenue to the existing CBD East Transfer Center site. There would be another underground station (CBD East Station) at this site with opportunities to transfer to buses at a reconfigured East Transfer Center and a pedestrian linkage to Pearl/Arts District station one block to the north.
After passing under Live Oak Street, the alignment would transition into the TxDOT right-of-way currently occupied by the Live Oak exit ramp from IH 345. TxDOT is advancing a new IH 345 design option that would eliminate this ramp and depress the freeway facility. The alignment would then continue underground and parallel to IH 345, passing under active DART tracks and Routh Street. North of Routh Street, the northbound and southbound D2 tracks would diverge to create directional merges at the existing tunnel portal.
Stations
The Project would introduce four new stations: one surface station (Museum Way) and three underground stations (Metro Center, Commerce, and CBD East). The underground stations would be accessed by stairs, elevators, and/or escalators, depending on space availability. The access points would be provided in new "headhouse" buildings, open spaces downtown, within the sidewalks, or incorporated into existing buildings. The underground station infrastructure will also include emergency egress and ventilation shafts.
D2 Subway Animation Video
An animation for two of the D2 Subway stations, Metro Center and Commerce, was prepared in 2020 to help the public and stakeholders visualize the design concepts. DART built upon this to include animations for the Museum Way, CBD East, and Live Oak Station areas. The latter two stations' areas were modified or removed as part of the east-end evaluation alignment change. Animations for Museum Way, Metro Center, and Commerce are shown below.
D2 Subway Newsletters
FTA Project Development Process
DART is following the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) process. The first phase is a two-year process called Project Development (PD) to complete Preliminary Engineering (PE) to support an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). FTA approved the original PD schedule based on the approval of the September 2015 LPA (see PROJECT HISTORY AND BACKGROUND below) and anticipated that PD would be complete by November 2017. With the change in direction in the Fall of 2016 to pursue a subway option and approval of the new D2 Subway LPA in September 2017, DART requested that PD be extended by two years to November 2019. In March 2018, FTA denied the extension. Thus, DART continued the PD process locally with FTA oversight. DART will resubmit the project to enter the FTA Engineering phase in mid-2021.
The D2 Subway Project Development phase was estimated to take approximately 24 months through late 2020. TheSupplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS)was completed in May 2020 and assessed the benefits, impacts, and costs of the project is a major milestone. The SDEIS built upon and updated the 2010 DEIS (see PROJECT HISTORY AND BACKGROUND below). Based on the SDEIS and public input, a Final EIS (FEIS) was prepared. The combinedFinal EIS/Record of Decision (FEIS/ROD) outlines mitigation commitments to address identified impacts. Based on the east-end alignment change, DART will prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) and seek a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and amended ROD. A mitigation monitoring program would be prepared and put in place once the project proceeds into Engineering and Construction.
Several meetings have been held during the Project Development Phase of the D2 Subway Project. Below is a list of key meetings, where each meeting notation contains a link to a PDF file that contains meeting-specific information. The information varies by type of meeting. Please subscribe here to stay informed.
Stakeholder Committee Meetings
(Thursday, November 7, 2019)
(Thursday, June 21, 2018, Westin Hotel)
(Tuesday, August 21, 2018)
(Thursday, April 18, 2019)
(Wednesday, August 8, 2018)
(Wednesday, August 22, 2018)
(Wednesday, October 24, 2018)
(Thursday, August 9, 2018)
(Thursday, August 23, 2018)
Technical Committee Meetings
(Friday, July 27, 2018, DART HQ)
Public Meetings
D2 Subway Service Plan Amendment Public Hearing (Tuesday, July 12, 2022, DART Board Room)
D2 Subway East End Evaluation (Wednesday, September 29, 2021, City of Dallas Department of Transportation Virtual Public Meeting)
D2 Subway East End Evaluation (Thursday, August 5, 2021, City of Dallas Department of Transportation Virtual Public Meeting)
(Tuesday, September 22, 2020, Virtual Meeting)
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (June 11, 2020 Virtual Meetings and June 25, 2020 DART HQ Meeting)
D2 Subway Project Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) Thursday, June 11, 2020, Virtual Public Hearings were recorded and transcribed. Audio and written files are available below:
June 11, 2020
June 11, 2020
(Wednesday, November 13, 2019, DART HQ)
(Wednesday, September 12, 2018, DART HQ)
(Wednesday, April 25, 2019, DART HQ)
(Wednesday, September 12, 2018, DART HQ)
(Wednesday, September 12, 2018, DART HQ)
D2 Subway Project Reports
The project team will post updates as the project progresses. Key reports and updated materials will be added as they are completed. Please subscribe here to stay informed.
(April 2021)
(May 2020)
(July 2018)
Resource Documents and Policies
Design Submittal Package
10% Design Submittal Information
The 10% design package was submitted in March 2019 and is superseded by the 20% design package.
PLANS Roll Plots: Plan and Profile
Updates to 10% design submittals
Station Architecture
Tunnel Cross-Sections
REPORTS Station Architecture
Urban Design
20% Design Submittal Information
Disclaimer: The 20% Design package was completed in March 2020. In the months since then, specific aspects of the design have changed and are reflected in the 30% Design package below.
NOTE: DART is in the process of initiating design for the revised east-end alignment, which will supplement and replace some of the original 30% design. Once complete and a project schedule is known, DART will evaluate project delivery methods and hold an industry symposium related to the project. If your firm is interested in future design and construction opportunities for the D2 Subway project, please contact Vonda Thomas in DART Procurement at [email protected] for more information.
Related Projects
D2 is proposed as part of a program aimed at improving the capacity of the system and access and circulation in the downtown core. In addition to the D2 Subway, DART recently completed theRed and Blue Line Platform Extensions project, which entails modifications at 28 stations on the Red and Blue Lines to accommodate longer trains. This project was completed in April 2022.
DART is also supporting the City of Dallas in planning for the Dallas Streetcar Central Link to connect the Union Station/Convention Center area to the McKinney Avenue Trolley (M-Line) in uptown near Klyde Warren Park. The Dallas City Council approved the Elm/Commerce alignment as the LPA for the Central Link on September 13, 2017, concurrent with their approval of the D2 Subway. DART is coordinating with the City of Dallas on the next steps, including future entry into Project Development under the FTA Small Starts program. The project schedule is pending additional streetcar system planning and a decision by the City to potentially advance the Convention Center Loop project early.
Project History and Background
DART began planning for D2 in 2007. Since then, several studies and planning efforts have been completed (see below), which led to the approval of a mostly at-grade Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) in September 2015. DART initiated Project Development (PD) for that LPA in November 2015, which included early preliminary engineering (PE) and preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). During the summer of 2016, there were community concerns with the alignment and requests from the City of Dallas and key stakeholders to pursue a subway option. As a result, on October 25, 2016, the Board of Directors approved the FY17 Financial Plan, which doubled the project budget to $1.3 billion for the development of a D2 Subway. Based on this action, DART initiated an LPA Refinement Phase in December 2016. This refinement phase entailed significant coordination with technical staff and downtown stakeholders and resulted in both the Dallas City Council and the DART Board of Directors approving the D2 Subway LPA in September 2017.
To learn more about project history click on the links below:
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