Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons

July 8, 2010

DART receives $4.9 million federal grant for downtown streetcar connector

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is scheduled to receive $4.9 million from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) as part of the $130 million Urban Circulator Grant Program.

The grant is one of 53 proposals totaling nearly $300 million in federal funding for both the Urban Circulator Program and the Bus and Bus Livability Program. DOT officials say winning projects were selected from 281 applicants totaling more than $2 billion in funding requests. The DART grant will have a local match of $5 million from the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

The project creates a new connection between Uptown and Downtown Dallas. It is a rail track loop, just under three-quarters of a mile long, connecting the M-line Olive Street extension to the current M-line track on St. Paul Street. It will provide a direct connection to DART's St. Paul Station and improve connections to popular destinations like the Dallas Museum of ART and the Nasher Sculpture Garden. The M-line's heritage vehicle fleet will still be used. Ultimately the line will connect with the planned Downtown Dallas streetcar project and will be built to accommodate a modern streetcar.

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