 the offical newsletter of DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT - Fall 2009 |
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More Connections To Come
On the same day that four new Green Line stations open for service, several thousand workers will be busy preparing the rest of the Green Line for opening in December 2010.
Stretching 28 miles from Pleasant Grove in Southeast Dallas to Carrollton and Farmers Branch in the northwest, the Green Line will provide a vital link between employment centers along the busy Stemmons corridor and neighborhoods in Southeast Dallas where residents will outnumber jobs three-to-one by 2025.
"Major employers such as the Dallas Market Center, UTSW Medical Center, Parkland Hospital, and Children's Medical Center will greatly benefit from the light rail system. It will also enhance the residential development in the Stemmons Corridor," says Matt Ferguson, chairman of the Stemmons Corridor Business Association and assistant administrator at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. "At the hospital, we are thrilled about the connection this will provide to our patient families and staff who commute every day from North Dallas."
"We anticipate that 7.2 million people will visit the Urban Center each year via DART's Orange Line."
Chris Wallace, president and CEO
Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce
Onward with Orange
Work is moving ahead too on the 14-mile Orange Line that will open in three stages: to the Las Colinas Urban Center and Irving Convention Center in 2011; to Belt Line Road in 2012; and to DFW Airport in 2013. In June the DART Board of Directors finalized the Orange Line's route to DFW's Terminal A.
Chris Wallace, president and CEO of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, says the Orange Line's seamless connections to Las Colinas' Area Personal Transit system, new entertainment venues and convention center will be a big boost for business. "We anticipate that 7.2 million people will visit the Urban Center each year via DART's Orange Line," he says.
Work also has begun on a 4.5-mile Blue Line extension from Downtown Garland Station to downtown Rowlett, with completion set for 2012. The city is gearing up for the service, including partnering with Lone Star Companies of Dallas on a 4 million-square-foot development.
"The DART Blue Line represents a new way to think about commerce in Rowlett," says Scott Airitam, chairman of the Rowlett Chamber of Commerce. "Studies have shown that pre-planned mixed-use developments around DART Rail stations bolster the local economy. The Rowlett Chamber has taken notice of these opportunities and we are prepared to help the business community capitalize."
He adds that by increasing ridership on DART, "Rowlett is doing its part to contribute to having cleaner air in the North Texas area."
Further south on the Blue Line, Lake Highlands Station - the first infill station on an existing DART Rail line - is scheduled to open in 2010 to serve residents and the new Lake Highlands Town Center.
With ridership expected to increase steeply with the doubling of the DART Rail system by 2013, a second downtown rail line is needed. The D2 study, as it's called, was launched in 2007 to identify a second alignment to help accommodate increased train traffic and create new connectivity in the Dallas Central Business District. Key considerations have included access to Dallas City Hall, a new Convention Center Hotel and the entire southern end of downtown, and the costs and logistics of building the new line underground or at street level.
Following dozens of meetings involving hundreds of city leaders, business and property owners, citizens and other interested parties, DART hopes to adopt a locally preferred alternative in early 2010, and enter into preliminary engineering and publish a final environmental impact statement in early 2010. Construction would begin in late 2012/early 2013 with service on the new alignment to open in 2016.
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