Dallas Area Rapid Transit riders will benefit from a federal grant aimed at improving access to more than two dozen light rail stations.
The Federal Transit Administration awarded the North Central Texas Council of Governments $1.4 million to upgrade accessibility to 28 DART stations along the system’s Blue and Red lines in Dallas, Garland, Plano and Richardson.
The money will be used to fill in missing sidewalks and make pedestrian crossings safer to make it easier for pedestrians to access rail stations, according to a statement from NCTCOG.
That will be a welcome improvement for passengers like Carlos Samano, who lost his left foot to diabetes and now requires a wheelchair to get around.
At least three times per week, Samano said he uses the elevated Walnut Hill station beside Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. There are two elevators that take Samano up to the elevated train platform, but he said one of them will often be out of service up to twice a month.
When that happens, Samano said he must wheel himself from one to the other and, in the process, cross five lanes of Walnut Hill Lane that, at one point, does not have a proper crosswalk.
“Yes, very dangerous because of traffic," he said. "There’s nothing else you can do.”
