DART News Release
Feb 19, 1999 | General
Bus, Rail, HOV expansion projects in full swing
Media Contact: February 19, 1999 DART is on the move!! Bus, Rail, HOV expansion projects in full swing DART is building light rail to the north and east, high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to the south, hooking up with the T to take the Trinity Railway Express commuter rail line west to Fort Worth, and better bus service is busting out all over.Fifty-five new light rail cars are on the way and more commuter rail cars are headed this way. Nearly 500 high-tech buses are arriving. Twenty more miles of high occupancy vehicle lanes are in the works. Studies are underway to expand transit services in Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Las Colinas, Fair Park and Pleasant Grove. Light rail doubles DART to the east on our 11-mile Blue Line extension from Mockingbird Station at Mockingbird Lane and North Central to White Rock Lake in fall 2001 and Garland in winter 2002. Four new stations at White Rock Lake on East Northwest Highway near West Lawther Drive; at Skillman and Miller roads; at Forest Lane and Jupiter Road; and in downtown Garland adjacent to the Garland Central Transit Center, Walnut St. at Fifth St. are being built. From the wooded trails of White Rock Lake Park to high-tech employment centers like Raytheon Systems in Garland, the Blue Line extension will provide fast work commutes to Dallas and easy access to Garland's major civic centers. Moving north, DART is building a 12-mile Red Line extension from Park Lane Station to Richardson in 2002 and Plano in 2003. Following existing rail right-of-way on the east side of U.S. 75, the line includes a new aerial station replacing the temporary station at Park Lane & Greenville Ave., plus eight more stations in Dallas: at Walnut Hill Lane, Forest Lane and LBJ Freeway; in Richardson at Spring Valley Road, at Arapaho Road, and at Galatyn Park; and in Plano at 15th Street downtown and at the East Plano Transit Center, Archerwood St. between Park Blvd. E. and Parker Road. Handsome transit malls, stylish warehouse lofts, community centers and performance halls are already in the planning for stations along the line, which will serve employment centers in Richardson's Telecom Corridor and Plano's downtown historic area, as well as Presbyterian Hospital and many other office and retail centers. What's more, the historic McKinney Avenue Trolley is being extended to serve Cityplace where Cityplace Station is taking shape ten stories under North Central Expressway, with a projected completion date in late 2000. The station will be constructed in three levels, all accessible by stairs, elevators and escalators. West to Fort Worth on the Trinity Railway Express The romance of yesteryear lives aboard the Trinity Railway Express coming to Fort Worth in fall 2000. More than 2,000 people daily ride the 10-mile commuter rail line between historic downtown Irving and Union Station in downtown Dallas. The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The "T"), DART's partner in the Trinity Railway Express, is renovating 14 "double-decker" passenger cars to bolster the current 13-car fleet. Look for those new cars as early as the summer of 1999. In addition to the Intermodal Transportation Center terminal at 9th & Jones in downtown Fort Worth, four new commuter rail stations are in development: in West Irving off Esters Road; in the mid-cities area at State Highway 360 south of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; south of State Highway 10 near Bell Helicopter; and in Richland Hills at Handley-Ederville Road, just south of State Highway 121. Another central Fort Worth station is planned at the historic T & P building off Interstate 30. DART HOV lanes picking up more commuters Some of the nation's fastest-growing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are right here in North Texas. More than 90,000 commuters a day choose the 18-mile network of HOV lanes on Stemmons, LBJ and R. L. Thornton freeways, and there's more to come. DART and the Texas Department of Transportation are working together on 11 more miles of HOV lanes stretching south of downtown Dallas along Interstate 35E and US. Highway 67. Opening in summer 2000, the lanes should save commuters about 14 minutes of travel time daily. Nine more miles of center-median HOV lanes along US. 75 from LBJ Freeway to Parker Road in Plano will open in fall 2002. Building better bus stops After introducing more than 200 new state-of-the-art buses last year (with nearly 300 more on the way in the next two years), DART rolls out the red carpet for bus patrons in the southern sector of Dallas this year with the first of 17 new, specially enhanced shelters, featuring lighting, and landscaping. New standard shelters with solar lighting and benches are also going up. New Passenger Transfer Locations (PTLs) -- small-scale transit centers staffed by DART Station Agents -- provide patrons with rest rooms, phones, vending machines and information kiosks. The Cockrell Hill PTL, at West Jefferson Boulevard & Cockrell Hill Road, and the Bernal/Singleton PTL, at Bernal Drive and Singleton Boulevard, both open in spring 2000. Addison also is getting new bus service as all points converge on the new Addison Transit Center opening in summer 1999. Now under construction on Addison Circle near Quorum Drive & Addison Road, the transit center is being produced of cast stone and brick in the European style of other structures in the area. The transit center celebrates the city's history with a series of four huge overhead murals reflecting its farming past and modern present through a collage of vintage and new photographs. What's next? DART marches on. Citizens are centerstage as DART plans future transit services in the Northwest Corridor extending from downtown Dallas through portions of Irving, Farmers Branch and Carrollton; and in the Southeast Corridor encompassing downtown Dallas, Deep Ellum, South Dallas/Fair Park and Pleasant Grove. For both corridors Major Investment Studies explore potential solutions to mobility problems including bus, rail, high occupancy vehicle lanes and RideShare programs. |
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