You may wanna spend a few minutes this morning boning up on the Rail North Texas plan, which calls for 215 miles of new commuter rail track that would connect much of North Texas -- from McKinney to Midlothian, Cleburne to Carrollton, Burleson to beyond. Only, who'll pay for it? Because it ain't cheap: $350 million and growing, by most estimates. And the suburbs badly want this, as evidenced by a press release issued by the city Burleson last week:
It's been almost 80 years since the last passenger rail car ran through Burleson. City of Burleson officials want a passenger rail line to run through Burleson again as part of an overall transportation system improvement program for the region.Which is why Burleson will be among the cities sending support to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport this morning, where, at 9, says our morning media release, State Senator John Carona, State Representative Vicki Truitt, Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, Dallas city council member Linda Koop and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief will announce the filing in both the state House and Senate of the Texas Local Option Transportation Act, which calls for tax hikes in order to tend to transportation needs, including both rail and road. Among the possible hikes pending voter approval, according to this morning's Star-Telegram: "Options would include impact fees on new residents registering their vehicles in Texas for the first time, higher car-registration renewals and driver's license fees for everyone, local-option gas taxes, and parking and emissions fees."
Update: After the jump, the bill filed today.
