Silver Line

[muncien]

A few thoughts about DART and parking...
1. I don't really get why DART is in the parking lot business.
2. If you have them, why not just charge EVERYBODY who parks there?
3. If you are a resident in the DART service area, you likely have a bus route nearby and have no real NEED to park at the parking lots anyway.
4. So, who cares if out of service area people park there, so long as they pay.
5. If you live in the service area and really don't like the bus, and you choose to pay to park, that should be okay too (not being an arse... I don't like the bus myself).

[art_suckz]

IMO the parking lots should be shopping centers with businesses paying leases to DART

[itsjrd1964]

https://www.dart.org/ShareRoot/about/expansion/cottonbelt/DARTCottonBeltMeeting22jul19.pdf

This doc shows that the line will run to the right/east (I think) of the existing red line with the station at CityLine to the east of the existing station. If you check it does look like they will need to purchase or be really careful with their design to avoid taking a lot of property in Plano.

Thank you Overdog for helping answer my question. I figured the arrangement at Cityline/Bush would be pretty much like this.

Screenshot_20200115-134414_Drive.jpg

12th Street looks a little different than I would imagine. Looks like they won't have a combined Silver and Red/Orange station there. Hard to tell if one of my questions (regarding how the Silver will meet/split from the Red/Orange at 12th Street) will be answered. If the split has the Silver going under, there will need to be a bit of turning-radius vicinity there, and there is a commercial business just to the west of the Red/Orange line. If the Silver goes over, it would have to be quite high to get over the Red/Orange tracks and their associated electric lines. But from the way the lines are drawn at both stations, the Silver line looks to be separate and west of the Red/Orange line. A very tight fit, which will probably only be accomplished with the Silver having a small-footprint aerial viaduct, as almost all the land north of Plano Pkwy. is taken up with commercial, factories, and a small office park; the part south of Plano Pkwy. to Bush Turnpike has apartments to the west. There's not nearly as much room there as with the placement of the apartments west of Cityline/Bush station. Those likely knew about the possibility of the Silver line before building, while the ones to the probably did not.

Screenshot_20200115-134348_Drive.jpg

[Tivo_Kenevil]

IMO the parking lots should be shopping centers with businesses paying leases to DART

All Dart lots should be mixed used stations. Imagine having a couple Mockingbird stations around town. That's just good for everyone including non-DART riders.

[DPatel304]

IMO the parking lots should be shopping centers with businesses paying leases to DART

All Dart lots should be mixed used stations. Imagine having a couple Mockingbird stations around town. That's just good for everyone including non-DART riders.

I always assumed that was the eventual goal, once there was enough demand to do so. Is that not the case?

[quixomniac]

A few thoughts about DART and parking...
1. I don't really get why DART is in the parking lot business.
2. If you have them, why not just charge EVERYBODY who parks there?
3. If you are a resident in the DART service area, you likely have a bus route nearby and have no real NEED to park at the parking lots anyway.
4. So, who cares if out of service area people park there, so long as they pay.
5. If you live in the service area and really don't like the bus, and you choose to pay to park, that should be okay too (not being an arse... I don't like the bus myself).

I remember a few years ago they tried a pilot paid parking program where they charged everyone.
But more so to out of service area residents.
This was to counter crowding in the plano stations, but I am not sure what happened since then.
Wether it was succesful or not.

[electricron]

Thank you Overdog for helping answer my question. I figured the arrangement at Cityline/Bush would be pretty much like this.Screenshot_20200115-134414_Drive.jpg

12th Street looks a little different than I would imagine. Looks like they won't have a combined Silver and Red/Orange station there. Hard to tell if one of my questions (regarding how the Silver will meet/split from the Red/Orange at 12th Street) will be answered. If the split has the Silver going under, there will need to be a bit of turning-radius vicinity there, and there is a commercial business just to the west of the Red/Orange line. If the Silver goes over, it would have to be quite high to get over the Red/Orange tracks and their associated electric lines. But from the way the lines are drawn at both stations, the Silver line looks to be separate and west of the Red/Orange line. A very tight fit, which will probably only be accomplished with the Silver having a small-footprint aerial viaduct, as almost all the land north of Plano Pkwy. is taken up with commercial, factories, and a small office park; the part south of Plano Pkwy. to Bush Turnpike has apartments to the west. There's not nearly as much room there as with the placement of the apartments west of Cityline/Bush station. Those likely knew about the possibility of the Silver line before building, while the ones to the probably did not.
Screenshot_20200115-134348_Drive.jpg

The Silver Line is going to parallel the Red Line on the west side; there is already a freight railroad spur between 10th and 12th avenues in Plano that already turn east under the Red Line with plenty of vertical clearance for a 20 feet tall freight car. There is going to be zero problems routing the Silver Line under the Red Line at this location - the way is already built.
The difficulty will be building the new 12th Avenue station side platforms on either side of the existing Red Line bridge over the ex Cotton Belt line. The Red Line existing bridge arches over the ex Cotton Belt line, and building arch platforms vs perfectly flat platforms adds to the difficulty.
As for how the interchange station at 12th Avenue will look, look 10 miles or so west at how the interchange at downtown Carrolton station will be. The Red Line station platforms will be ordinated north-south while the Silver Line station platforms will be ordinated east-west. Also look at how the Orange Line interchange with the Las Colinas people mover for similarities. A similar station configuration already exist, two new ones will be built soon.
The interchange at Bush Turnpike station will be more akin to Union Station or Trinity Mills, with the commuter rail platform(s) adjacent to the light rail platforms in the same north-south ordination. Again, not a completely new design for DART.

[quixomniac]

Someone else posted this link on the D2 page,
But there's some bits about the Silver line.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dart- ... l/2296017/

At the same time DART is moving forward with the $1.2 billion Silver Line, formerly known as the Cotton Belt Line, for a transit rail connection between Plano and DFW Airport. The Silver Line faces strong opposition from North Dallas neighbors who want the portion of that project that would run behind their homes to be built in a tunnel instead of on the surface.

DART has resisted a Silver Line tunnel as it offers neighbor various other “betterments” like sound walls and low noise tracks.

[dzh]

I'm no train expert, but how would a tunnel with a diesel-powered train like work? Would they just create the most ventilated tunnel ever? In the off chance event that they end up getting forced to dig a tunnel, will they potentially need to go electric for this line?

[exelone31]

Let's all keep in mind that it is entirely possible that these complaints are coming from people who voluntarily chose (under no duress!) to live on a street called "Spanky Branch Ct".

[TNWE]

Let's all keep in mind that it is entirely possible that these complaints are coming from people who voluntarily chose (under no duress!) to live on a street called "Spanky Branch Ct".

Haha!

In all seriousness, the elevated structure is a necessity due to the access and drainage impacts of lowering Hillcrest and Coit (This presentation breaks down the alternatives: https://dart.org/about/board/boardagend ... 4jan20.pdf) A trench adds to the cost and creates a drainage nightmare any time there's heavy rains/flash flooding, and you simply don't build a tunnel when you already have continuous ROW for a transit line. These people can't in good faith claim they never thought there would be trains running near their house when they chose to buy a house that backs up to a train line.

It reminds me a lot of the NIMBY complaints from Colleyville during TexRail planning and construction, and some on this forum decided that was evidence enough to declare Colleyville a backwards city. From the TexRail thread:

I still don't understand why Collyville rejected a station.

Because in their warped minds, they equate public transportation with poor people and criminals. They're the kind of people who rent a car when to go to Manhattan, and drive it so they can go see Times Square.

Seeing as the City of Dallas rejected the Coit Road station, and Dallas residents are complaining about "noisy" trains in their backyard, I guess it's time to get that ol broad brush back out...Sorry Dallasites, you're just as backward as Colleyville

[Cbdallas]

Meanwhile the residents of urban Dallas are begging for more stations and transit options and these people don't even want the train up in their suburban neighborhoods. I still don't believe in this line and would rather have diverted this money to D2 and opening up more urban stations.

[TNWE]

Meanwhile the residents of urban Dallas are begging for more stations and transit options and these people don't even want the train up in their suburban neighborhoods. I still don't believe in this line and would rather have diverted this money to D2 and opening up more urban stations.

But that's just the problem with the "Dallas vs. The Suburbs," anti-regionalism logic that pervades every discussion on the forum - the City of Dallas is mostly suburban. All of the residents of urban Dallas think they can get subways and streetcars by blocking transit development in "the suburbs," but the majority of Dallasites (who live in car-dependent SFR that's not particularly close to the urban core, or in Uptown MFR and refuse to use transit) feel that D2 is as much a waste of money as the Silver Line, and would certainly gripe if the City hiked property taxes to build streetcar lines downtown while continuing to neglect roads and traffic lights.

And let's not forget the Engineering by Mob that happened with D2 - a whole lot of urban Dallasites had no problem putting on their NIMBY hats and demanding expensive changes to the routing because...they didn't want "noisy" trains passing by their houses! And rather than fronting the cash for these expensive changes, Dallas made finding additional funding for the D2 subway DART's problem. Compare that to Plano, Richardson, Addison, and Irving who have all paid in significant cash towards adjusting rail alignments and plans for the benefit of their city. Maybe that's why the Silver Line is under construction and D2 is still mired in planning purgatory?

[Hannibal Lecter]

Meanwhile the residents of urban Dallas are begging for more stations and transit options and these people don't even want the train up in their suburban neighborhoods. I still don't believe in this line and would rather have diverted this money to D2 and opening up more urban stations.

Some people feel that way, but don't think for a second it's universal. Most of the residents I know think DART rail has been a negative for Deep Ellum. Few people would shed a tear if the Green Line were to disappear tomorrow.

[Cbdallas]

Why would the Green line be a negative for Deep Ellum this seems so contrary to other urban cities where they would want transit. Not sure I understand. Even Los Angeles of all places is adding more rail and stations why would Dallas not want more instead of less transit.

[quixomniac]

Why would the Green line be a negative for Deep Ellum this seems so contrary to other urban cities where they would want transit. Not sure I understand. Even Los Angeles of all places is adding more rail and stations why would Dallas not want more instead of less transit.

Its not so much the station itself, it is the poor implentation of Deep Ellum station in my opinion. That whole section should have been trenched at the very least, it clogs up traffic in the worst places, north end of deep ellum and the on ramp to 75. In fact, now that they are doing D2, they should put the money in to fix it isntead of making it worse with additional crossings.

All of those people rejecting stations will find themselves in the same places as Knox/Henderson.
They will have to fund their stations themselves.
Knocking them off the list makes everything cheaper and the trains faster with less stops.

And Id also like to add that far north Dallas is basically a suburb and we shouldn't stick to this labeling of entire cities as urban and suburuban and approach everything in terms of density.

[Hannibal Lecter]

Cons:

- The tracks cross three of the major routes in/out of the neighborhood. The trains block the street a surprising percentage of the time.

- The train drivers love to push the button to lower the crossing gates long before they leave the station. This is especially dangerous when they block the fire trucks and ambulances on Malcolm X and on Hall.

- When the crossing gates malfunction they create a major mess.

- To build the rail line they replaced two grade-separated street crossings with at-grade intersections, closed off several other intersections, and added other new traffic lights.

- Increased crime. This is no urban myth or misperception. Just ask Christopher Washington. Oh, I'm sorry -- you can't. Because he was killed last month at the Deep Ellum station. How many times have we read articles about rapes, robberies and assaults that ended "the suspects were last seen headed towards the Deep Ellum Dart station"? It's gotten to the point even I don't like walking past the Baylor station at night.

- The business owners I know say that they don't see any paying customers using it to come to the neighborhood except for a few families during the day on weekends. And they don't tend to spend much money.

Pros:
- Well, I do know exactly one person who commutes on the train to Richardson.


BTW, you should have seen the turnout at the meetings to oppose running D2 up Good-Latimer at street level. Folks were prepping their torches and pitchforks.

[TNWE]

And Id also like to add that far north Dallas is basically a suburb and we shouldn't stick to this labeling of entire cities as urban and suburuban and approach everything in terms of density.

I agree, but it's not the only suburb. Lakewood, Lake Highlands, Preston Hollow, Kessler, and North Dallas are all effectively suburbs, but they're all contained inside the same arbitrary boundary as Uptown/Downtown/Deep Ellum. Like it or not, that makes Dallas just as much a "suburban" city as Plano or Irving, and the makeup of the city council reflects that - only districts 2 and 14 could be considered "urban" in terms of density.

So much of the pie in the sky urbanist vision for Dallas is rooted in the idea that all those de facto suburbs should keep paying property and sales taxes into the city coffers, but not get anything in return as the vast majority of spending is directed toward projects that benefit residents in district 2 or 14. The "Dallas vs. The Suburbs" rhetoric is just a façade for the urbanist crowd to cast aspersions about the supposed moral inferiority of "suburbanites" without upsetting their North Dallas piggybank.

[Parker Road]

Cons:

- The tracks cross three of the major routes in/out of the neighborhood. The trains block the street a surprising percentage of the time.

- The train drivers love to push the button to lower the crossing gates long before they leave the station. This is especially dangerous when they block the fire trucks and ambulances on Malcolm X and on Hall.

- When the crossing gates malfunction they create a major mess.

- To build the rail line they replaced two grade-separated street crossings with at-grade intersections, closed off several other intersections, and added other new traffic lights.

Lol. Two-thirds of your "cons" are from the driver's perspective... figures.
Also, don't cite somebody's death as a reason not to build transit when driving is much more dangerous. The Deep Ellum station is poorly located in a sense that it's far from the actual Deep Ellum neighborhood, but the reason nobody uses it is because it's choking in a sea of car infrastructure. If land use around the station became more habitable to transit users, then it would see more success.

And let's not forget the Engineering by Mob that happened with D2 - a whole lot of urban Dallasites had no problem putting on their NIMBY hats and demanding expensive changes to the routing because...they didn't want "noisy" trains passing by their houses! And rather than fronting the cash for these expensive changes, Dallas made finding additional funding for the D2 subway DART's problem. Compare that to Plano, Richardson, Addison, and Irving who have all paid in significant cash towards adjusting rail alignments and plans for the benefit of their city. Maybe that's why the Silver Line is under construction and D2 is still mired in planning purgatory?

Maybe the Silver Line is under construction because it follows a (mostly) existing ROW through low-density areas while D2 is going to be built on an all-new alignment through the most highly built-up part of the Metroplex?

[TNWE]

And let's not forget the Engineering by Mob that happened with D2 - a whole lot of urban Dallasites had no problem putting on their NIMBY hats and demanding expensive changes to the routing because...they didn't want "noisy" trains passing by their houses! And rather than fronting the cash for these expensive changes, Dallas made finding additional funding for the D2 subway DART's problem. Compare that to Plano, Richardson, Addison, and Irving who have all paid in significant cash towards adjusting rail alignments and plans for the benefit of their city. Maybe that's why the Silver Line is under construction and D2 is still mired in planning purgatory?

Maybe the Silver Line is under construction because it follows a (mostly) existing ROW through low-density areas while D2 is going to be built on an all-new alignment through the most highly built-up part of the Metroplex?

The availability of existing ROW certainly didn't hurt, but back in 2015 when the D2 conversation started in earnest, it was the priority, with the Cotton Belt pushed off into the 2030s. When DART gave in to the demands of amateur engineers and had to go back to the drawing board, it effectively put D2 back at square one. The at-grade alternative was slated for a mid-2017 Final EIS/Record of Decision. The Silver Line FEIS/ROD was November 2018, and was all set to go when the RRIF loan opportunity arose. The D2 Subway *might* complete sDEIS by 2021 if the downtown NIMBYs don't find something else to complain about (if someone really wanted to derail D2 again, they'd rally Victory Park/West End residents to raise all the same complaints Deep Ellum and Farmers Market residents did and get another 5 year delay while DART figures out how to dig a subway through VP).

If people think the D2 subway is the best alternative, that's fine. But they don't get to unilaterally put the brakes on everything else while they go back to the drawing board...

[TNWE]

The latest Silver Line briefing has some interesting nuggets on the design of the Downtown Carrolton station and how it will interchange with both the existing Green Line, as well as potential A-Train and "Frisco Line" commuter rail extensions...

https://dart.org/about/board/boardagend ... 0mar20.pdf (starting on page 5)

The most frustrating thing is the addition of a 550(!) foot ramp to connect the Silver Line Platform to the Green Line platform. I can't imagine anyone traversing that when the plan already had stairs, elevators, and in one alternative, escalators in a climate-controlled structure!

[electricron]

The latest Silver Line briefing has some interesting nuggets on the design of the Downtown Carrolton station and how it will interchange with both the existing Green Line, as well as potential A-Train and "Frisco Line" commuter rail extensions...

https://dart.org/about/board/boardagend ... 0mar20.pdf (starting on page 5)

The most frustrating thing is the addition of a 550(!) foot ramp to connect the Silver Line Platform to the Green Line platform. I can't imagine anyone traversing that when the plan already had stairs, elevators, and in one alternative, escalators in a climate-controlled structure!

There has to be a backup way for wheelchair or otherwise mobility challenged people to get from one level platform to another in case the elevator(s) breaks down. The idea that they will never be out of service, if only for routine maintenance, is wrong. That more than 500 foot ramp is needed for the almost 40 feet in elevation changes between levels keeping it to an acceptable grade.

Check out Mockingbird Station and note how many passengers will wait for the elevator, use the escalators, or use the stairway. You might be surprised at how many avoid the electro-mechanical solutions, getting some exercise in using the human enable solutions.

[TNWE]

The latest Silver Line briefing has some interesting nuggets on the design of the Downtown Carrolton station and how it will interchange with both the existing Green Line, as well as potential A-Train and "Frisco Line" commuter rail extensions...

https://dart.org/about/board/boardagend ... 0mar20.pdf (starting on page 5)

The most frustrating thing is the addition of a 550(!) foot ramp to connect the Silver Line Platform to the Green Line platform. I can't imagine anyone traversing that when the plan already had stairs, elevators, and in one alternative, escalators in a climate-controlled structure!

There has to be a backup way for wheelchair or otherwise mobility challenged people to get from one level platform to another in case the elevator(s) breaks down. The idea that they will never be out of service, if only for routine maintenance, is wrong. That more than 500 foot ramp is needed for the almost 40 feet in elevation changes between levels keeping it to an acceptable grade.

Check out Mockingbird Station and note how many passengers will wait for the elevator, use the escalators, or use the stairway. You might be surprised at how many avoid the electro-mechanical solutions, getting some exercise in using the human enable solutions.

There's no ramp for the existing elevated Green Line platform though - the required ADA redundancy is provided by having two elevators (three if you count the one at the south end of the ped walkway over Belt Line). What is special about the Silver line that it needs a ramp connection in addition to stairs, elevators, and (potentially) escalators?

[electricron]

There's no ramp for the existing elevated Green Line platform though - the required ADA redundancy is provided by having two elevators (three if you count the one at the south end of the ped walkway over Belt Line). What is special about the Silver line that it needs a ramp connection in addition to stairs, elevators, and (potentially) escalators?

The Silver Line platform is only getting one elevator, there is no second elevator in the plans for it. The backup reason I responded earlier still applies to it.
The Silver Line platform will also be placed in the midst of two freight railroad corridors, BNSF to the south and DGNO to the north. An at grade access to the platform over track with mile long freight trains may not be considered safe, so it'll be an up and over catwalk in place for it, a catwalk slopping down, or an elevator from the light rail station platform.

[THRILLHO]

I'm so curious to see how this turns out for the Carrollton station. This corner of the metroplex already feels delightfully chaotic with the the green line, 35E, and the freight lines--with an over+underpass sandwiched between it all. Throwing another rail line into the mix should be fun.

[TNWE]

There's no ramp for the existing elevated Green Line platform though - the required ADA redundancy is provided by having two elevators (three if you count the one at the south end of the ped walkway over Belt Line). What is special about the Silver line that it needs a ramp connection in addition to stairs, elevators, and (potentially) escalators?

The Silver Line platform is only getting one elevator, there is no second elevator in the plans for it. The backup reason I responded earlier still applies to it.
The Silver Line platform will also be placed in the midst of two freight railroad corridors, BNSF to the south and DGNO to the north. An at grade access to the platform over track with mile long freight trains may not be considered safe, so it'll be an up and over catwalk in place for it, a catwalk slopping down, or an elevator from the light rail station platform.

I took a closer look at the plans, and if DART truly intends to "wall off" Silver Line access from the south and make the only pedestrian ingress/egress via the new parking lot or elevated Green Line platform, that's even worse. All of the existing bus bays are to the south, so any Silver Line <-> Bus connections also require going up and over.

If they're going to build a ramp, it should be located in a way that serves as many use cases as possible (i.e. facilitating bus connections or pedestrian access to Belt Line Road), and not just tacked on to the side as an afterthought that adds *another* avoidable pedestrian crossing of the LRT tracks

[Redblock]

DART has received the first shipment rails for the new Silver Line route.

https://www.dart.org/news/news.asp?ID=1 ... 6TkbHCtskk

[electricron]

I took a closer look at the plans, and if DART truly intends to "wall off" Silver Line access from the south and make the only pedestrian ingress/egress via the new parking lot or elevated Green Line platform, that's even worse. All of the existing bus bays are to the south, so any Silver Line <-> Bus connections also require going up and over.

If they're going to build a ramp, it should be located in a way that serves as many use cases as possible (i.e. facilitating bus connections or pedestrian access to Belt Line Road), and not just tacked on to the side as an afterthought that adds *another* avoidable pedestrian crossing of the LRT tracks

The BNSF line and the DGNO line will be switching places to avoid a railroad diamond crossing. An elevated crossing will be added to the east, with the DGNO (Silver) line going over the BNSF line.

Existing layout
North
BNSF line
DGNO (ex-Cotton Belt) line
South

New layout
North
DGNO (Silver) line
BNSF line
South

The platforms need to meet the Silver (DGNO) tracks and not the BNSF tracks. And of course, BNSF does not want Silver line passengers walking across their line. So a passenger bridge or ramp will be needed for them. The existing DART station crosses both lines, and already has vertical access to the parking lots and Beltline Road to the south. So connecting the Silver line platforms to the existing station that bridges over both railroad tracks is the cheapest solution. Otherwise, the Silver line would have to build ramps on both sides of a new bridge over the new BNSF tracks. Why?
Additionally, by using the Green Line station as the bridge, interchange transfers would be quicker between the Silver and Green lines. Otherwise, transferring Silver line passengers would have to climb up to the new bridge, climb down on the other side just to climb back up to the Green line station, or vice versa. Wouldn't you rather just climb once?

[TNWE]

The BNSF line and the DGNO line will be switching places to avoid a railroad diamond crossing. An elevated crossing will be added to the east, with the DGNO (Silver) line going over the BNSF line.

Existing layout
North
BNSF line
DGNO (ex-Cotton Belt) line
South

New layout
North
DGNO (Silver) line
BNSF line
South

The platforms need to meet the Silver (DGNO) tracks and not the BNSF tracks. And of course, BNSF does not want Silver line passengers walking across their line. So a passenger bridge or ramp will be needed for them. The existing DART station crosses both lines, and already has vertical access to the parking lots and Beltline Road to the south. So connecting the Silver line platforms to the existing station that bridges over both railroad tracks is the cheapest solution. Otherwise, the Silver line would have to build ramps on both sides of a new bridge over the new BNSF tracks. Why?
Additionally, by using the Green Line station as the bridge, interchange transfers would be quicker between the Silver and Green lines. Otherwise, transferring Silver line passengers would have to climb up to the new bridge, climb down on the other side just to climb back up to the Green line station, or vice versa. Wouldn't you rather just climb once?

Again, I understand the need for a redundant, ADA-compliant pedestrian access. What I'm suggesting is that DART engineer it such that the ramp runs parallel to the Silver Line platform up to a "mezzanine" level (lower than the DART platform, but high enough to leave sufficient clearance for both passenger and freight vehicles) that crosses over the Silver Line and BNSF tracks. To the south of the BNSF/Silver Line tracks, the pedestrian bridge would split into a ramp up to connect with the existing pedestrian crossing over the NB DART LRT track that connects the platform to the bridge over Belt Line, and a ramp down to ground level for access to the bus bays.

I get that no one wants to go up, then down, then back up to connect from Silver <-> Green, but the solution as designed means someone connecting from Silver <-> Bus has to traverse that extremely long ramp + at least half the length of the Green Line platform to make their connection. As designed, it's as much of a white elephant as the pedestrian bridge over Harry Hines and Walnut Hill. It would be much faster for someone to go to either end of the platform and cross the tracks at grade where they intersect with Denton or Broadway, unless DART is planning to barricade those existing sidewalks and only allow access to the Silver Line platforms by going up and over via the Green Line platform, or driving and parking in the P&R lot on the north side.

[Redblock]

A second shipment of new rail has been received. It appears that it was unloaded at the same spot as the first shipment, between Marsh and Surveyor. This link describes other progress on the project.

https://www.dart.org/news/news.asp?ID=1524

[TNWE]

A second shipment of new rail has been received. It appears that it was unloaded at the same spot as the first shipment, between Marsh and Surveyor. This link describes other progress on the project.

https://www.dart.org/news/news.asp?ID=1524

I don't recall previous DART projects having even one, much less two news releases about delivery of rail. Nothing wrong with sharing progress updates, but if they publish a release every time they receive a shipment of materials, it's gonna get as tedious as every public update meeting spending 5 minutes discussing the slide with pictures of construction equipment

[Hannibal Lecter]

You know some folks at DART are going "Thank God for COVID-19. Now we'll have an excuse when ridership on this line is 10% of projections!"

[itsjrd1964]

Station artwork for some Plano and Richardson stations has been revealed.

https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort ... -stations/

UT-Dallas Station

80471.jpg

CityLine/Bush Station

80472.jpg

12th Street Station

80475.jpg

80476.jpg

80473.jpg

Shiloh Road Station

80474.jpg

[exelone31]

That Shiloh Road station rendering looks like a hidden level in GoldenEye or something. Kind of hilarious, but I suppose a kitschy theme isn't the worst thing.

I have a feeling the UTD Station is going to be heavily utilized.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Dart designs are always bad

[TNWE]

That Shiloh Road station rendering looks like a hidden level in GoldenEye or something. Kind of hilarious, but I suppose a kitschy theme isn't the worst thing.

I have a feeling the UTD Station is going to be heavily utilized.

I really hate that DART feels compelled to make each station have a unique design "theme"-what's wrong with a consistent, clean look for all the stations constructed in a given project? If anything, station "art" should be the responsibility of the city where the station is located, along with the betterments. DART's mandate is to provide public transit, not public art and decorative sound walls...

[tamtagon]

I think the public art requirement is wonderful, but I would also require all the stations to have some sort of climate control.

[electricron]

That Shiloh Road station rendering looks like a hidden level in GoldenEye or something. Kind of hilarious, but I suppose a kitschy theme isn't the worst thing.

I have a feeling the UTD Station is going to be heavily utilized.

I really hate that DART feels compelled to make each station have a unique design "theme"-what's wrong with a consistent, clean look for all the stations constructed in a given project? If anything, station "art" should be the responsibility of the city where the station is located, along with the betterments. DART's mandate is to provide public transit, not public art and decorative sound walls...

By Federal law, if DART accepts FDA, FRA, or USDOT grants, they have to set aside a certain percentage of those grants for public art. All that Federal money comes with strings attached. So it is within DART's "Legal" mandate to provide public art alongside public transit.
It has been DART's policy all along to budget $5-10 million per station for public art, and anything over that amount would be paid by the local cities.
While it is true that there is nothing wrong with identical looking stations, why do you think it is wrong to have individual looking stations? I personally like the idea that every station's users having a say on how their stations should reflect the local neighborhoods history and values.

[cowboyeagle05]

You are looking for the Katy Trail model where TXDot provided funding for something like the concrete trail itself being that the trail is transportation system and the city and community groups built out amenities and landscaping etc.

[TNWE]

That Shiloh Road station rendering looks like a hidden level in GoldenEye or something. Kind of hilarious, but I suppose a kitschy theme isn't the worst thing.

I have a feeling the UTD Station is going to be heavily utilized.

I really hate that DART feels compelled to make each station have a unique design "theme"-what's wrong with a consistent, clean look for all the stations constructed in a given project? If anything, station "art" should be the responsibility of the city where the station is located, along with the betterments. DART's mandate is to provide public transit, not public art and decorative sound walls...

By Federal law, if DART accepts FDA, FRA, or USDOT grants, they have to set aside a certain percentage of those grants for public art. All that Federal money comes with strings attached. So it is within DART's "Legal" mandate to provide public art alongside public transit.
It has been DART's policy all along to budget $5-10 million per station for public art, and anything over that amount would be paid by the local cities.
While it is true that there is nothing wrong with identical looking stations, why do you think it is wrong to have individual looking stations? I personally like the idea that every station's users having a say on how their stations should reflect the local neighborhoods history and values.

Mainly because it's a big waste of money that contributes to the perception that public transit is more about lining the pockets of well-connected individuals (who are the artists who got contracts for these stations? Why wasn't my brother's roommate's second cousin allowed to submit a proposal?) than moving people from point A to point B. If you did a survey of typical DART riders, the overwhelming majority would prefer that $5-10 million went to security or operating extra trains. Yes, those are ongoing rather than one-time expenses, but that kind of money will cover an extra security guard or train service for at least a decade.

"Public art" isn't bad in itself, but it's not absolutely necessary, and our government might be in a better fiscal place if they didn't mandate spending *even more* money as a condition of receiving federal funds.

[electricron]

To my surprise, the law in question was changed in 2013.
Read https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/gra ... ic-transit

To keep it simple as much as possible, classic art like statues are now prohibited, but art like functional design features like lighting, roofs, building materials - bricks, pavers, stones, landscaping - are still allowed and encouraged.

[TNWE]

To my surprise, the law in question was changed in 2013.
Read https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/gra ... ic-transit

To keep it simple as much as possible, classic art like statues are now prohibited, but art like functional design features like lighting, roofs, building materials - bricks, pavers, stones, landscaping - are still allowed and encouraged.

I guess it comes down to interpretation on what the comically large power outlet and electrical cord features are. Doing something like setting a lightning bolt pattern into the pavers seems to be ok, but the rest of the Shiloh design has all the subtlety of, well, an electrocution. Maybe we'll be lucky and that will be scaled back in the design-build process...

[The_Overdog]

I personally would think they would want to downplay the fact that an electric substation is across from a rail station, instead of things that people riding a train might want to go to.

[Parker Road]

I personally would think they would want to downplay the fact that an electric substation is across from a rail station, instead of things that people riding a train might want to go to.

There isn't too much going on in that corner of Plano regardless, only thing Shiloh can really promote is a park-and-ride location for East Plano commuters going west.

[electricron]

I personally would think they would want to downplay the fact that an electric substation is across from a rail station, instead of things that people riding a train might want to go to.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, having worked for a local utility over 30 years, electrical substations have their own beauty.

In Plano, most of the city park lands are under utility lines or along creeks. So I would not be surprised the locals decided to celebrate what is there with that station’s motif.

Additionally, historically The largest electric utility in north Texas can trace its’ roots to all the local interurbans. So in a round about way, DART would be honoring public transit roots in Dallas as well with the electrical motif.

[TNWE]

A second shipment of new rail has been received. It appears that it was unloaded at the same spot as the first shipment, between Marsh and Surveyor. This link describes other progress on the project.

https://www.dart.org/news/news.asp?ID=1524

I don't recall previous DART projects having even one, much less two news releases about delivery of rail. Nothing wrong with sharing progress updates, but if they publish a release every time they receive a shipment of materials, it's gonna get as tedious as every public update meeting spending 5 minutes discussing the slide with pictures of construction equipment

Oh my god I WAS JOKING

9/18/2020 Rail Arrives for Silver Line in Plano

9/16/2020 Richardson Gets Silver Line Rail Delivery

[DPatel304]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr_z6HfS2yE

According to this recent video, they said service will start in March of 2023. This may be old information, I haven't exactly been on top updates for the Silver Line, but I thought I'd share since this video was posted semi-recently.

[northsouth]

https://www.dart.org/about/board/boardagendas/planningitem7_08dec20.pdf
Interesting info on page 31:

Approval from FTA received on November 12, 2020 for locating the EMF at DCTA – “The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has reviewed the supplemental environmental documentation DART submitted for the Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail Project (the Silver Line) on 30 October 2020. FTA determines that, in accordance with 23 CFR 771.129, the design modifications to the Silver Line would not result in any substantial impact to the quality of the human environment, and the previously approved FEIS/ROD of 9 November 2018 remains valid.”

This is the first I'm seeing of talk of moving the Silver Line EMF to Lewisville. It makes sense, though: the DCTA facility is much closer than the TRE one, doesn't require use of relatively busy freight trackage to reach, has more room to expand, and is already set up for a similar model of vehicle from the same manufacturer.

[TNWE]

https://www.dart.org/about/board/boardagendas/planningitem7_08dec20.pdf
Interesting info on page 31:

Approval from FTA received on November 12, 2020 for locating the EMF at DCTA – “The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has reviewed the supplemental environmental documentation DART submitted for the Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail Project (the Silver Line) on 30 October 2020. FTA determines that, in accordance with 23 CFR 771.129, the design modifications to the Silver Line would not result in any substantial impact to the quality of the human environment, and the previously approved FEIS/ROD of 9 November 2018 remains valid.”

This is the first I'm seeing of talk of moving the Silver Line EMF to Lewisville. It makes sense, though: the DCTA facility is much closer than the TRE one, doesn't require use of relatively busy freight trackage to reach, has more room to expand, and is already set up for a similar model of vehicle from the same manufacturer.

That link is working for me now - not sure why it wasn't the other day.

This makes a lot of sense - not as much as having it adjacent to the cotton belt alignment, but definitely better than using the TRE shops.

If DART and Trinity Metro had been able to complete their sections as one integrated project, they could have built a giant unified EMF near DFW North that would have served both. Texrail could have theoretically located theirs near DFW anyway with the expectation that DART would pay in to expand/share costs, but I suspect there was a political decision behind locating their EMF within Fort Worth city limits...

[Redblock]

The first concrete pour today, under the Prestom Road overpass.

https://www.dart.org/news/news.asp?ID=1556