Dallas l DART Light Rail Expansion Updates

[Zerton]

I wish the Preston/121/Legacy area had a station but there is no way they would ever cut across Plano like that. Maybe 75 and 121 (where all the Allen development is) will happen someday.

[jtk1519]

Some development related to the DCTA's A-Train...

Huffines Communities breaks ground on big mixed-use project in Lewisville
10:28 AM CDT on Thursday, October 28, 2010
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com

Developers will break ground Thursday afternoon on a mixed-use development that will take advantage of Denton County’s first commuter rail line.

The 90-acre Hebron 121 Station project is being built in Lewisville by Huffines Communities.

The $300 million development will have more than 1,700 apartments and 250,000 square feet of retail and office space. The project is near Vista Ridge Mall and Interstate 35E and is next to Denton County Transit Authority’s new rail station.

The rail line, which will link Denton with downtown Dallas, opens next year.

The first phase of the Huffines project is 234 apartments on Lakeway Circle that will open next spring.

The Mediterranean-style buildings were designed by architect Humphreys and Partners.

“We are not aware of any existing residential transit-oriented-developments in Texas that are of the size and scope of Hebron 121 Station,” said Phillip Huffines, one of the owners of Huffines Communities. “At completion, the project will offer residents world-class retail and restaurant choices and resort-style amenities, including a lakefront boardwalk and terraces, an open village green, clubhouse with enormous pools overlooking lakes and trails.”

Huffines Communities projects that the entire project will be finished in six to eight years.

Denton County Transportation Authority’s new commuter rail line will link five stations with DART’s new Green Line rail running to downtown Dallas.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1d48755cc.html




www.hebron121station.com

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by Zerton

I wish the Preston/121/Legacy area had a station but there is no way they would ever cut across Plano like that. Maybe 75 and 121 (where all the Allen development is) will happen someday.

I wish the Legacy Town Center/Stonebriar areas were better served (or served at all in Stonebriar's case). I realize Frisco is not a DART member, but that area is growing well enough along the Dallas North Tollway and 121 that I think it would benefit greatly from transit. And currently the Legacy Town Center area is served by DART's 452 bus, but only Monday-Friday. On Sat. & Sun. they cut the line short and go only as far as Preston and Spring Creek.

Again, I know Frisco is not a DART member city so I don't know how it would happen, but I would love to see 452's route expanded just a little more North to Stonebriar and have it run 7 days a week.

[jtk1519]

Fort Worth is getting some cool looking new buses...


www.fwbusinesspress.com

These will eventually be a part of a true BRT system in Fort Worth, but right now, The T will be using them for their busiest line down the Lancaster Avenue corridor.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by jtk1519

Fort Worth is getting some cool looking new buses...


www.fwbusinesspress.com

Proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is more to my liking.

[llamaorama]

ugh palm trees

Oh well, Hebron 121 still looks nice.

[texcolo]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

ugh palm trees

Oh well, Hebron 121 still looks nice.

Yeah, what's the deal with that? Didn't Dallas get a foot a snow last year?

[jtk1519]

I think the original Hebron 121 plans called for three distinct architectural styles... "Southern Coastal", "West Indies" and "Tuscany". My guess is the palm trees are supposed to lend the "Southern Coastal" look. Hopefully they change the architectural plans and go with something that doesn't suck, but regardless, I really don't expect to see palm trees when all is said and done.

[SnyderBock]

Palm trees from the Chinese foothills and Indian foothills of the Himalayan Mountains routinely survive winters as cold as Dallas. With careful planting (no palm trees on northern exposures for example) and precautionary winterizing steps (wrap trunks with bubble wrap for 4 coldest months of winter), they should not only survive, but actually thrive.

[Lyly]

I'm on the no-palms boat. Not a fan of them myself. Nor am I a fan of having three different styles going on. I assume what those pictures are showing is the "West Indies" style, but I really have no idea. I like the look though, but I doubt it will be pulled off with full effectiveness.

Anyhoo, a pretty awesome development all told.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

Palm trees from the Chinese foothills and Indian foothills of the Himalayan Mountains routinely survive winters as cold as Dallas. With careful planting (no palm trees on northern exposures for example) and precautionary winterizing steps (wrap trunks with bubble wrap for 4 coldest months of winter), they should not only survive, but actually thrive.

Thanks for that tidbit of info but I think people's objection to palm trees is that they look out of place (or at least that's how I feel).

[jtk1519]

DART has posted some extensive changes that will come into effect on Dec. 6th to coincide with the full opening of the Green line as well as the Lake Highlands station on the Blue line. And I'm not sure if it has been discussed yet, but the Orange line will begin limited service on Dec. 6th running from the new Bachman Station up the current Red line corridor all the way to Parker Road Station during weekday rush hour to help relieve some Red line congestion.

FULL GREEN LINE OPERATION SPURS MAJOR ROUTE REVISIONS
Completion of the Green Line from Buckner Boulevard and Elam Road in southeast Dallas to Frankford Road in Carrollton heralds a new era of rail transportation for DART passengers. In addition to the 15 new Green Line stations, the Lake Highlands Station makes its debut between White Rock and LBJ/Skillman stations on the Blue Line. Another first will be rush-hour service between Parker Road and Bachman stations as the initial phase of Orange Line operation.

Equally important for thousands of bus riders in the immediate service area is a range of route changes designed to complement the new rail network while eliminating costly duplication of service. At the same time, modification of several northeast Dallas routes will be made to more efficiently reflect ridership patterns, while routes along the Jefferson Boulevard corridor through Oak Cliff and Cockrell Hill will undergo a major overhaul to streamline service. Please use this brochure as a guide to changes planned on your particular route to determine how your commute will change. For your convenience, bus routes have been grouped according to that part of the service area affected. Some routes may appear in more than one section.

For more detailed information, call 214-979-1111.

http://dart.org/about/servicechange/servicechange.asp


www.dart.org

As the maps will appear on LRT signage...


www.dart.org

[jtk1519]

Another change that I had not heard about (but probably because I wasn't paying enough attention) is the TRE fare zone boundary is being moved from the Dallas/Tarrant County line to the CentrePort/DFW Airport Station also effective on 12/6...

TRE Fare Zone Move

Relocation of the TRE fare zone boundary from the Dallas/Tarrant County line to CentrePort/DFW Airport Station will take place Monday, Dec. 6, 2010.

The fare boundary move will equalize fare options for both Dallas and Tarrant county customers. Currently, customers traveling to CentrePort from Dallas County stations pay a Regional fare. Under the new policy, the same trip would require a lesser System fare, the same as from Tarrant County stations.

http://dart.org/about/servicechange/...#railschedules

[dfwcr8tive]

Originally Posted by jtk1519

Another change that I had not heard about (but probably because I wasn't paying enough attention) is the TRE fare zone boundary is being moved from the Dallas/Tarrant County line to the CentrePort/DFW Airport Station also effective on 12/6...



http://dart.org/about/servicechange/...#railschedules

That was announced several months ago, but I'm glad it's going into effect now. CentrePort/DFW is a logical fare boundary since both cities use this station to access DFW Airport.

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by jtk1519

I can't get a link to it right now, but WFAA did a report last night on the Cotton Belt. Going off memory, DART originally hoped to have the Cotton Belt up and running by 2030, but lack of funding forced them to look into a private/public partnership and now there is talk of the Cotton Belt breaking ground next year and being up and running in 4 years. Price tag according to the report is $1 billion (not sure if that is just the DART segment or if that includes the entire 65+ mile line) and supposedly they have 1/3 of the money raised with multiple avenues to fund the rest. Sounded promising.

Little late here, but I just today saw the video link for this report posted on another site...

http://www.wfaa.com/video?id=102235084&sec=553117

[FoUTASportscaster]

^Interesting for a couple of reasons.
One, they have already raised a third of the money needed. I know the T was planning the western half of the line. I wonder if that is the third they mentioned.

Two, the idea of having property owners help pay for infrastructure improvements that will increase their value has been mentioned a lot in planning academics, but outside of TIF's have never gained much traction in Texas. I wonder what the chance of that happening is?

Originally Posted by jtk1519

And I'm not sure if it has been discussed yet, but the Orange line will begin limited service on Dec. 6th running from the new Bachman Station up the current Red line corridor all the way to Parker Road Station during weekday rush hour to help relieve some Red line congestion.

It won't be to relieve Red Line congestion, it will actually replace every other Red Line train in peak direction and will double the frequency in the non-peak direction.

[jtk1519]

electricron or one of you other guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but if I correctly read Andy Haretip's recent posts in the streetcar thread on Dallas Metropolis, it sounds like Dallas' new streetcar future gets underway this month when construction starts on the Olive Street extension.

He also mentioned that sales reps for Bombardier were in town recently. Haretip specifically mentioned their Toronto Legacy cars which I believe look like these seen in Brussels...


source: wiki

In that same thread, Kinkisharyo's J-Trams (as seen here in Japan) are also mentioned as possibilities for Dallas...


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/sh...&postcount=606

Again, I'll rely on one of you guys who are regulars over there to correct me if I'm wrong.

What I don't know and would be curious to learn for you guys who have followed the streetcar development closely, is what the relationship is between MATA and the new streetcar system planned for downtown, Oak Cliff, etc. I know MATA is it's own entity and is behind the above mentioned Olive Street extension, but is DART behind the modern streetcar or is MATA involved in that or what? Will the two connect and share track and cars. For example, will we see modern streetcars using MATA's McKinney Ave. Trolley line in the future or MATA's vintage cars going out to Oak Cliff? I just haven't followed any of the streetcars news so I'm a little confused and I'm frankly too lazy to read through the entire thread on DM.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by jtk1519

What I don't know and would be curious to learn for you guys who have followed the streetcar development closely, is what the relationship is between MATA and the new streetcar system planned for downtown, Oak Cliff, etc. I know MATA is it's own entity and is behind the above mentioned Olive Street extension, but is DART behind the modern streetcar or is MATA involved in that or what? Will the two connect and share track and cars. For example, will we see modern streetcars using MATA's McKinney Ave. Trolley line in the future or MATA's vintage cars going out to Oak Cliff? I just haven't followed any of the streetcars news so I'm a little confused and I'm frankly too lazy to read through the entire thread on DM.

I'll try to keep it very simple, OCTA MATA, Dallas and DART are four entirely different organizations.

The backers of the downtown Dallas modern streetcars is the City, McKinney Avenue historic trolleys is MATA, and Oak Cliff modern streetcars is OCTA. The FTA has provided grants of one form or another to all three projects. DART helps the existing MATA in various ways, I assume they will help the others as inter-local agreements are made. Presently, DART is helping with the downtown Dallas project's planning and EIS. I'm not sure if DART is helping OCTA in any way. I hope the different projects can share some resources and expertise they posses with the others.

I believe it's best to look at the four different organizations and three different projects as entirely different with stand alone projects. Of course, everyone wants to build all three projects with as much commonality as possible, but I'm not sure 100% commonality is possible. I hope there will be blocks where the streetcars and trolleys share the same tracks so passengers can make easier transfers.

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by electricron

I'll try to keep it very simple, OCTA MATA, Dallas and DART are four entirely different organizations.

The backers of the downtown Dallas modern streetcars is the City, McKinney Avenue historic trolleys is MATA, and Oak Cliff modern streetcars is OCTA. The FTA has provided grants of one form or another to all three projects. DART helps the existing MATA in various ways, I assume they will help the others as inter-local agreements are made. Presently, DART is helping with the downtown Dallas project's planning and EIS. I'm not sure if DART is helping OCTA in any way. I hope the different projects can share some resources and expertise they posses with the others.

I believe it's best to look at the four different organizations and three different projects as entirely different with stand alone projects. Of course, everyone wants to build all three projects with as much commonality as possible, but I'm not sure 100% commonality is possible. I hope there will be blocks where the streetcars and trolleys share the same tracks so passengers can make easier transfers.

I hope so too and I had forgotten all about the OCTA. I'm also concerned about fares. What I hope is that we do like Portland did and make all of downtown (and the streetcars and LRT therein) a "fare free zone", but I'm concerned there would be a mess if they charge and charge different fares or whatnot. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

BTW, the extension MATA is buidling and the final loop it will make around the Arts District, will MATA continue using their vintage streetcars exclusively or do they have plan to purchase some modern streetcars?

[electricron]

Originally Posted by jtk1519

I hope so too and I had forgotten all about the OCTA. I'm also concerned about fares. What I hope is that we do like Portland did and make all of downtown (and the streetcars and LRT therein) a "fare free zone", but I'm concerned there would be a mess if they charge and charge different fares or whatnot. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

BTW, the extension MATA is buidling and the final loop it will make around the Arts District, will MATA continue using their vintage streetcars exclusively or do they have plan to purchase some modern streetcars?

As far as I know, MATA plans to continue using vintage trolleys. MATA is planning on refurbishing some old PCC streetcars, but I haven't heard anything about MATA running modern streetcars on most of their tracks.

Dallas and OCTA are planning to use modern streetcars.