(The following story by Stephanie Sandoval appeared on The Dallas Morning News website on March 9.)
DALLAS — City managers from Irving to Frisco know begging won’t advance DART’s plan to someday start rail service between their cities.
Not when soaring construction costs are complicating efforts to keep even the agency’s higher-priority projects on schedule.
So the managers of Irving, Farmers Branch, Carrollton and Frisco are taking a different approach. They want to study the feasibility of rail service along the 25-mile Burlington Northern Santa Fe line – and look for a way to pay for it.
The managers expect to ask their city councils this month to authorize them to form a DFW Rail Coalition, possibly with a paid staff.
Each city in the coalition would contribute money based on its population. Businesses, chambers of commerce and other entities would be invited to participate.
The coalition would seek requests for proposals from companies to build and operate rail service along the BNSF line, which stretches north-northeast from the Trinity Railway Express station in Irving to U.S. Highway 380 in Frisco.
Providing rail service along the BNSF right of way is already included in DART’s 2030 long-range plan, DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said. But so far the idea, like other parts of the plan that have not been funded, is merely part of the agency’s “vision.”
Mr. Lyons said DART would support the cities’ efforts to speed the line’s development by finding a way to pay for it. If the cities develop a plan, they could seek to contract with DART to build or operate the service, or find another way to build it.
Plano City Manager Tom Muehlenbeck, whose city the line skirts on the west, said he has participated in some of the cities’ discussions.
“What we’re trying to find out is the full extent of the … [request for proposals],” he said. “What is the cost … and what do we hope to take away from it; what is going to be the value to the various members of the organization?”
The coalition could explore not only state and federal funding but also the possibility of public-private partnerships.
Carrollton City Manager Leonard Martin made clear that the effort isn’t about asking the transit agency to postpone any existing plans for construction through 2030.
“Our council has that caveat,” he said, “that they want to be sure the 2030 plan is there and this is not something to get into a realignment or competition with other lines that are planned.”
DART’s president and executive director, Gary Thomas, said he met recently with the city managers and supports the idea for the coalition. He said it was “exciting” to have the cities step up.
“The way I understand it,” he said, “the four or five cities are looking at it and saying, ‘We understand the challenge in front of us, we understand the project is there but it’s not funded, and if we can come up with how to fund it … we need to be prepared – we, the cities – to make this happen.’ ”
DART has faced months of criticism over soaring costs for planned rail extensions to Irving and Rowlett. In November, Mr. Thomas disclosed that those costs had risen to nearly $1.9 billion, almost twice the budgeted $988 million.
“We figured out how to keep those projects on schedule, so we are moving forward with the procurement process now,” he said.
With construction costs growing, moving sooner on the BNSF project could save millions of dollars in the long run, Irving City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said.
He also said the line would meet a north-south need in the rail system.
“We feel it could fill a void and get a lot of folks up north, like Frisco and beyond,” he said. “If you live in Prosper or you live in Frisco and work in Las Colinas, it would be much nicer to get on a train – where you have your laptop, you do your e-mail and work all the way through your 45-minute ride or however long it’s going to be – rather than being on the road and stressed.”
Frisco is the only city among the five that is not a member of DART.
“If we’re going to have commuter rail in Frisco, this is really our only opportunity,” City Manager George Purefoy said.
For Farmers Branch, the line would serve a just-announced 300-acre retail, commercial and residential development to be built in the Mercer Crossing area, near interstates 35E and 635 and the Bush Turnpike. The first phase will be a Mediterranean-inspired town center with plazas, gazebos, parks, fountains and walking trails around a lake.
“We’re going to be having thousands of people living and working in that area,” City Manager Gary Greer said. “If we can provide them with some commuter access, that’s going to be helpful to us and to the development.”