North Central Texas Council Of Governments
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Dallas City Council plans to signal its opposition to current plans for a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth at Wednesday’s council meeting. The resolution was requested by Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, chair of the Economic Development Committee, after the committee voiced disapproval for early designs of the train’s route and the lack of answers the city has received about financial impacts.
Preliminary mockups for the rail show towering train tracks bisecting the area around Reunion Tower and its developable surroundings from the rest of downtown, to the ire of council members.
“At this time, except for streetcar expansion projects currently under consideration, City Council does not support construction of any above ground rail lines through the Downtown, Uptown, and Victory Park areas of Dallas,” the memorandum filed by Atkins says. “[The] City Council commits to revisit the Dallas to Fort Worth high-speed rail discussion after it receives the economic impact study.”
During a March 6 briefing on the train, Dallas council members requested an economic impact survey on the rail line that the city has yet to produce. Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley told council members that a survey of the train’s fiscal impact on Dallas could take as many as three months to put together, and an evaluation of the region-wide impact will be available sometime in the fall.
In the meantime, Atkins’ memo states, there are “many [other] large projects” being developed in the city for the council to prioritize, including a streetcar expansion and the redevelopment of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and Fair Park.
Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, believes the Dallas City Council opposition is being voted on without council members hearing the most up-to-date information on the rail project. He hopes to present those updates “sometime in the next four weeks.”
“[The resolution] really doesn’t change anything for me, because every question, every thought, every concern that has been raised on high-speed rail, we either have answered or are ready to answer,” Morris told the Observer Monday. “We’re going from the station they gave us to the rest of the region.”
Currently, the council widely supports plans for the federally approved high-speed rail station in the Cedars, which is planned to be seven stories tall and could possibly support a 90-minute Dallas to Houston line. The project was resurrected last year when Amtrak signed on as a partner with Texas Central. Sensing an opportunity, NCTCOG – the body that coordinates the spending of federal transportation dollars for the region – began pushing for an extension line that would allow riders to travel from Houston to Fort Worth through the Dallas station without having to change seats, much less trains.
“You’d get off the train and move seventeen stories. That’s still an alternative. I don’t think it’s a very good alternative.” – Michael Morris, NCTCOG Director of Transportation
That “one-seat” goal, NCTCOG says, makes it necessary for the train’s path to travel above ground through West Dallas and Downtown Dallas before turning south to the Cedars. Morris says officials were aware of plans to connect a Dallas-Fort Worth train line to the Dallas-Houston bullet train before the Cedars train station was selected for federal approval.
Nothing has been finalized yet, and Morris says a variety of solutions to Dallas’ concerns are being explored.
“One option is to build a subway and then build a ten-story elevator to the ground and another six, seven-story elevator to the platform. Seventeen stories,” Morris said. “You’d get off the train and move seventeen stories. That’s still an alternative. I don’t think it’s a very good alternative.”
While proposed alignments for the Dallas section of the rail line are above ground, the train would tunnel underground for the Arlington and Fort Worth segments. Morris said the above-ground design is key to keeping things efficient for riders traveling between North Texas and Houston, and he estimates the 17-story elevator plan would add up to 40 minutes to travel times.
Still, some Dallas city council members say it’s an unfair deal.
“This is something that can work beautifully for all municipalities involved, for Arlington and for Fort Worth, but it needs to work beautifully for all cities involved,” Council Member Adam Bazaldua said in the Economic Development Committee briefing. “Right now, where we are in that process, we’re getting, once again, the short end of the stick as a regional entity.”
An environmental impact survey on the proposed North Texas train line – which will have a stop in Arlington’s entertainment district in addition to the Dallas and Fort Worth stations – is expected to be completed by NCTCOG in the next year. West of Dallas, Morris says there is “lots of excitement” surrounding the possibility of high-speed travel.
“We know to develop really important projects is hard and complicated, and regardless of whatever the city of Dallas does we stand ready to partner with the city to develop a win-win situation, and I’m very optimistic we’ll be able to figure it out,” Morris said.
