Grapevine moves toward light rail; why not Flower Mound?
Good article in this morning's DMN about Grapevine's move toward getting light-rail, as part of a deal with Fort Worth's T transit system.
It's a good move for Grapevine, considering they'd be part of a line that stretched in one direction from their downtown to downtown Fort Worth, and then on to SW Fort Worth. In the other direction, Grapevine will build an extension to the northside of DFW Airport, which would then connect this new Tarrant branch to an eventual extension of DART to the northside of the airport. All this could be in place by 2011 or 2012 or 2013.
Now I know Flower Mound's history of participating in mass transit projects. In and out of DART in the 1980's. Not supporting DCTA. You can debate the merits (or lack thereof) of either of these two specific projects all you like, and feel free to post comments here or blast me with e-mails. But wouldn't it be cool if we could tap right into that FW - Grapevine - Dallas line that could/should be coming here in 5 or 6 years?
On what set of tracks, you ask? There's no rail going that direction. Details, details. But wouldn't it be cool to have a rail line through Flower Mound that get us right to DFW Airport, or make a simple connection to either downtown Dallas or downtown FW?
I lived 5 years in Connecticut, and my wife rode the train every day from home to Grand Central Terminal. It was a 60-mile, 90-minute ride, but it sure beat having to navigate the Turnpike or the Merritt, and then the parkways in Westchester and the Bronx, just to fight all that great traffic in the city.
Light rail is where it's at, folks. This would be a good project to connect to, all things being equal.
posted by Chip Mahaney @ 8:48 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I do not understand the town's opposition to any and all kinds of mass transit. The town doesn't think anything about increasing the capacity of our roads. Why not spend this "road" money on light rail instead? What we need is fewer cars on the road; this would lead to a quieter less pollution-filled town. Rail is a no brainer in my opinion.
I like DART's rail service, but I'm not sure there would be enough riders to support the cost of making a connection here.
Light rail is VERY expensive to build. How many people in Flower Mound would really use it? A few hundred a day or fewer would probably catch it. I just don't see it ever becoming a reality here.
I disagree. I think many people would use rail. I moved here from Omaha where I took the bus everywhere. We have so many transplants here that are used to and would use public transportation if it were available. Besides, roads are expensive to build also.
I agree transit would work. For clarification, the line going into grapevine will not be light rail. It will be the same type as DCTA. Deisel. It only makes sense for FM to join DCTA since it keeps the political interests close to home and not in Dallas or FW
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