DCTA adopts Rail Plan
An updated plan for rail service has been approved by the Denton County Transportation Authority board of directors. Search for executive to begin.
County rail plan approved
Nicole Bywater 11/24/2003 Lewisville Leader
An updated plan for rail service, minus stops in Corinth and Copper Canyon, was approved by the Denton County Transportation Authority board of directors on Tuesday.
The new plan reflects the results of September’s election on a half-cent sales tax increase to fund the project. The measure failed in Flower Mound, Corinth and the smaller cities of Shady Shores, Copper Canyon and Double Oak. Lewisville, Denton and Highland Village approved the tax increase, which is expected to generate about $14 million per year.
“I’m pleased with where we are now,” board chairman Charles Emery said. “There are a few small changes that need to be made, but we effectively approved a service plan to use as a guideline in moving forward.”
The rail system must still go through several planning steps such as an alternative analysis, which includes environmental studies, and the designing of engineering plans, before construction can begin.
DCTA’s main goal is to provide service from Denton to Carrollton, which would then connect with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit lines that are scheduled to be put in place in Carrollton.
“We feel that connectivity with DART in Carrollton will affect our timing on that part of the system,” Emery said. “It’s also been suggested that the project be done in two phases, although we’re not sure where the division would be.”
Emery alluded that the southern portion of the routes would be completed before the northern.
“If we were to do it in two parts, I expect that the Lewisville section could be done in about five or six years, and that the northern portion could be done in about seven or eight,” he said.
Emery also expressed his regrets once again that Corinth will not be part of the regional plan.
“Corinth was almost a natural segmentation, and I wish we could have built,” Emery said. “I feel bad for the North Central Texas College there, because we’ll not be able to provide service for them, like we can at the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University in Denton,” Emery said.
These cities will be able to opt into the rail system at a later date, either through a city-directed election or by contracting directly with DCTA for service, according to Emery.
The group must also establish a pricing differential between passengers from cities that are paying for the system and those that are not, but how this will work is yet to be determined.
“We’re going to watch DART’s lead closely as they try to handle this problem of people from other cities coming down to use the system, when their cities are not helping to pay for it,” Emery said. “There will be no free lunch.”
The best way for regional rail to work is through an alliance concept, with existing agencies working together, Emery said.
Also Tuesday, the board hired San Francisco transportation consultant Carmen Clark to lead the group’s search for an executive director.
“It’s only fair to the DCTA and to us to now have a dedicated staff person who would be an employee and not a contacted consultant,” Emery said. “I and [Vice Chairman] Joe Roy, who are both private consultants to the authority, have been spending 50 hours a week both on just this one project.”
The authority expects to hire an executive director during the first quarter of next year. The new position will replace McDonald Transit, which has managed the transit.
The cost of Clark’s services and expenses has been capped at $21,000, although Emery said he expects this amount to be less.