Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons

November 30, 2000

Quick Notes

Cityplace Station Opens December 18

It's taken 80,000,000 years, but the Austin Chalk underneath North Central Expressway has found its finest form -- DART's Cityplace Station, an engineering masterpiece four years in the making. The station opens December 18.

Cityplace Station is 120 feet underground, along DART's 3.25-mile tunnel. The tunnel connecting downtown Dallas and north Dallas opened in January 1997. Cityplace Station is within walking distance of shopping and entertainment, serving Target, Lowes theater and other stores in the Cityplace Market near the crossroads of North Central Expressway and the Lemmon/Haskell area. The new station is also within walking distance of Uptown and the new West Village residential and retail development opening in spring 2001 at Lemmon Avenue and McKinney.

The $50-million light rail station -- located 10 stories beneath North Central Expressway between Haskell Boulevard and Lemmon Avenue -- can be accessed from Cityplace Tower on the east frontage road beginning December 18. The aboveground entrance on the west frontage road is scheduled to open in late January when DART adjusts bus routes to serve the station. The historic McKinney Avenue Trolley is scheduled to expand in 2002, connecting the west entrance of the DART station to Uptown and the McKinney Avenue entertainment area.

DART's first subway station has Texas-style dimensions, including six pairs of escalators. Bright lights and soothing pastel and white tiles throughout the station give customers a sense of safety, day or night. Original tile art on station walls at all levels reflect the area's rich history and diversity.

Cityplace Station Facts
Total cost of station: $50,000,000
Number of levels of station: 3
Depth in feet of boarding platform: 123
Number of stories under North Central Expressway: 10
Number of steps from top to bottom: 213
Number of customer entrances: 2
Number of escalators: 6
Length in feet of longest escalators: 138 (longest escalators west of the Mississippi)
Length in feet of inclined elevators (inclinators): 135
Number of people that fit on inclinators: 16
Length of tunnel: 3.25 miles
Distance of station from downtown: 1 mile
Distance of station from Mockingbird Station: 2.25 miles
Age of Austin Chalk geologic formation of tunnel: 80,000,000 years
Total number of square feet in station: 33,000
Height of ceiling at highest point: 43 feet
Length of boarding platform: 310 feet
Tons of air-conditioning available: 56
Electric watts used to light station: 50,000
Number of tiles used throughout station: 150,000

-- 30 --