tollway corridor

[pariah]

i would like to open up this thread to ideas/suggestions, about rail transit for the Dallas North Tollway corridor. anybody thought about this in any capacity, how could it be done, in what capacity, what would be feasible, would it be feasible, etc.? i think it should be considered.

[crescentboi]

The DNT and rail issues make me think of Chicago. I don't know the freeway names up there, but I know there's one where the rail line is in beaten the two sides of traffic, but then there's also the "El" downtown. What if Dallas merged those two ideas and raised the Dart on pillars in the center, with raised stations? Maybe its all just a daydream, but I think it could work.

[smontgomery]

Since I live off of the tollway, and I have to take it at least a few times a week, I have thought about this question in depth. I used to live of off I-66 outside of DC, where the rail line runs in between the highway, and they are now in the process of putting one along their local tollway.

I guess it all depends on where you want to talk about putting it up. It would make since to run it through North Dallas, but seeing that the tollway runs along some of the most affluent neighborhoods in Dallas, I wonder how much opposition would be shown against that issue (remember the tunnel under Mockingbird Lane?). Also, the NTTA is in the process of putting up soundwalls along that route - another hindrance. Then, above LBJ, the corridor is so conjested, and has such a limited right-of-way, and with all of those clustered office buildings, where would you put the stations?

I have always wondered though, how come there hasn't been anything on the drawing boards to bring rapid transit to the most popular mall in DFW, the Galleria, and the surrounding area. It would only make since, and maybe the traffic that it would generate could make it comparable to the Houston Galleria area in terms of being a destination. If they did decide to build a light-rail ( or maybe heavy rail this time) line along the Tollway, it would most likely have to be put underground. I doubt if enough support could be generated for running an elevated rail line along the corridor.

Just my 2 cents. Peace..

[pariah]

this is true, i am sure the parkies would fight it ,nothing can be allowed to invade the "bubble", even in the context of progress , underground would be wonderful, however, i am sure the budgeters would reject this option as being too cost prohibitive, even though it would most definitely not be, given the amount of traffic and the areas it could serve. i agree it would be nice to hope on a train from downtown/uptown to the galleria, this should be in the plans, maybe whomever takes up ownership of the place since its on the market, will push for this, it would definitely help business

[smontgomery]

What might work though, is a light rail line along the northner portion of the LBJ corridor. While this doesn't give direct access to the downtown core area, it could connect several major transit centers (with a little tweaking). I was thinking maybe from Lake Ray Hubbard (or Mesquite/Town East Mall area) to North Irving Transit Center (see the following site: www.dart.org/maps/capprojmap.htm) (http://www.dart.org/maps/capprojmap.htm)) . Now the right of way DEFINITELY is there, as DART is planning on doing some widening of LBJ along that corridor anyway. And by most of the potential population along that route being the lower/middle class, the ridership level would be guaranteed to grow. Those are the people who need it most, anyway. I also think that we would be able to see an elevated portion, and even a sub-surface/underground portion. It definitely would work as a long-term congestion buster, not just for the freeways, but especially when DART ridership levels grow to the point where decentralization of the lines is necessary. A few cities (DC and Boston come to mind) are talking about something similar to that now, and they have even less room to work with.

[jsoto3]

i have long thought about this as well. i think i would tend to be one of the "budgeteers" and say that i prefer an aerial alignment. my greatest concern is stations in the park cities. given that the area is of such a low density and lacks pedestrian scale, the stations would need to be park and ride, but where to park?! i think the line could do very well north of lbj, especially in addison. i think there is plenty of room for stations above the tollway itself. perhaps there could be no stations between harry hines and lbj, and then 30-50 years later let the parkies cry about having no stations!

[aceplace]

I have seen rail plans already for at least a part of this corridor. The NCTCOG website shows a possible future light rail alignment from the Forest Lane DART station, then west on LBJ to just west of the tollway.

At that point, the alignment would turn north, along an existing rail corridor, and terminate at the Addison Transit Center/ Columbus Circle area.

[bloodandpopcorn]

That sounds smart and feasible, though I do think it might be more productive to have a line direct from downtown to the galleria... Still, whatever works and doesn't involve the anti-development parkies. I wonder when this might happen?

[psukhu]

I live in near Turtle Creek and work in Addison. I have also thought about a rail along the tollway.

I think the Park Cities would block it or at least not give it the required support.

The Galleria needs a station, even if its on an east-west rail along LBJ.

[pariah]

for some reason, i had this idea when driving by the galleria area the other day, of a undergroud transfer/hub station in the area, connecting east/west passengers on an as yet unplanned, unbuilt line, and a north/south span under and over the tollway corridor, i don't know, just another crazy thought

[gc]

Interesting thought.

[smontgomery]

I don't know if this is exactly what you had in mind, but at least someone has thought of something similar. Hope this helps...

http://www.dfwinfo.com/trans/mobility2025/update_maps/railmap_large.gif