Denton County Transportation Authority gets $191 million for rail-system link to DART
08:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 26, 2008
By LOWELL BROWN / Denton Record-Chronicle
lmbrown@dentonrc.com
Money from the State Highway 121 tolling agreement is boosting multiple Denton-area transportation projects, including a planned commuter rail line to Carrollton.
The Regional Transportation Council last week approved the allocation of $2.5 billion for transportation projects in Denton, Collin, Dallas and Tarrant counties. The projects are the latest to receive funding from the North Texas Tollway Authority's $3.3 billion payment for the right to build and operate State Highway 121 as a toll road.
Denton County projects received about $825.5 million in the latest payout, which will occur in phases.
The total includes $191 million for the Denton County Transportation Authority's 21-mile regional rail system, which will link Denton to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system in Carrollton.
"That completes the funding that's required for us to open the line from Denton to Carrollton," said Scott Neeley, DCTA's executive vice president of rail development. "We're really excited about it."
DCTA is working to bring rail service to Denton by December 2010.
The transportation council previously approved $57 million from the Highway 121 deal to help DCTA buy 12 rail cars for the project.
The funding approved Thursday requires a local match of 20 percent and will help widen parts of U.S. Highway 377, Bonnie Brae Street and Mayhill Road in Denton. It will also provide money for the planned extension of Loop 288 to the northwest part of the city, among other projects.
"Clearly, it allowed the local governments here to advance mobility projects on a much more expedited schedule," said Mark Nelson, the city's chief transportation officer.
"You're looking at a great opportunity to leverage local funds on an 80-20 match to get desperately needed transportation projects on the ground."
The council approved the division of the $3.3 billion among the four counties last year. Denton County received the largest share, $1.56 billion, based largely on estimates of how much traffic State Highway 121 would handle in each county. The money the council approved Thursday was part of that $1.56 billion.