Federal Transportation Administrator Gordon Linton
will join Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk and other local officials, DART
Chairman Norma Stanton and DART President/Executive Director Roger
Snoble to announce the latest developments in federal funding to
help pay for construction of an extension of DART's North Central
rail line.
The Federal Transportation Administration and DART are
set to begin negotiations on DART's request for a $333 million Full
Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) to provide funds over six years to
help pay for the 12.5-mile extension from Park Lane Station through
Richardson to Plano. President Clinton's FY 2000 budget recommends
$70 million for the North Central Extension. The $70 million will be
included in the final FFGA. The FFGA establishes a project
completion date and provides a commitment of federal funds.
Last month, DART awarded a $54.9 million contract for
construction of the North Central rail line section from Park Lane
Station to LBJ Freeway. DART also has awarded contracts for 55
additional light rail cars, rail right-of-way, rail and expansion of
its rail vehicle maintenance facility. DART's North Central
Extension is scheduled to open in Richardson in summer 2002 and in
Plano in summer 2003.
A separate 11-mile rail extension from DART's
Mockingbird Station is scheduled to open near White Rock Lake in
fall 2001 and Garland in fall 2002. That extension is being paid for
by local funds.
DART's Light Rail Starter System has two lines. DART's
Blue Line presently runs north from the new Ledbetter Station in the
South Oak Cliff section of Dallas, across the Trinity River, through
downtown Dallas, ending at Pearl Station (Bryan and Pearl). DART's
Red Line begins at Westmoreland Station, near the intersection of
Illinois and Westmoreland in West Oak Cliff, runs north across the
Trinity River, through downtown Dallas, and then enters a tunnel
under North Central Expressway to Mockingbird Lane. From there,
trains proceed above ground to Park Lane Station in North Dallas.
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