Dallas city leaders Tuesday unanimously endorsed a resolution demanding a downtown Dallas Subway and bus service improvement in DART's 20 year finance plan.
It did not mention the suburban Cotton Belt rail line.
The resolution makes no mention of the proposed DART Cotton Belt line between Plano and D/FW International Airport, which is strongly favored by suburban cities Plano, Addison and Coppell.
“We are the city of Dallas and we’ve compromised in the past with the expansion of the rail and we’ve waited. And now it is our turn,” said Dallas Council Member Jennifer Staubach Gates.
Dallas subway supporters argue ridership projections do not support the Cotton Belt plan, but do justify a second downtown rail path to relieve congestion on the single line that carries all trains through downtown now.
Furthermore, subway supporters insist a more expensive underground path is also justified instead of the partially surface level route currently preferred by DART planners.
The street level path runs beside First Presbyterian Church of Dallas.
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“The results would be catastrophic to our ministry,” said Reverend Karl Schwartz, First Presbyterian Associate Pastor.
Dallas also placed bus service improvement in the resolution with even stronger language from Councilman Adam McGough that was added at the meeting Tuesday.
“We’re not addressing the needs of the passengers to get folks where they need to go, when they need to go, in an efficient way,” McGough said.
The Dallas resolution also asks DART to complete a downtown street car connection between the existing McKinney Avenue Trolley uptown and the Oak Cliff Street Car line that currently ends at Union Station.
“We’re not saying no to Cotton Belt. We’re saying time out. Let’s do a few other things before we get there,” Dallas Councilman Rickey Callahan said.
Subway and bus improvement supporters packed Tuesday’s Dallas City Council meeting and lined up to speak, but no one from the public spoke in favor of the Cotton Belt line.
“If that is not a good back of the napkin calculation of which is a greater priority for the region, I don’t know a better way to look at it,” said Dallas Council Member Philip Kingston.
The fight moves next to the DART transit agency board where suburban cities also appoint voting members.
“One thing we have to keep in mind is that DART is a partnership. It’s a partnership between the City of Dallas and its suburban neighbors,” said North Dallas Councilman Lee Kleinman.
At least some suburban support will be required to make the Dallas wish list come true at the expense of Cotton Belt supporters.
