Light Rail to Red Bird

[RobertB]

While news.googling for an article about the Love Field tunnel, I found something else of interest. As I posted in another thread (http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=2880), a private group including Cutter Aviation wants to help build a Cowboys stadium on the vast empty land near Red Bird Airport (renamed Dallas Executive Airport, as if that would help anything). This group will pay for the stadium WITHOUT public funding -- something the Arlington voters should take a good look at before committing $300+ million taxpayer dollars to JJ's pockets.

What makes the article (available here (http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/index.asp?story_id=38723)) applicable to this forum is what the proposal does want from the city: a Light Rail extension to the stadium/airport complex. The ballpark estimate is $100+ million for the LRT extension, less than a third of what the Cowboys want as a direct subsidy.

Hmm, let's compare: a $100 million project that could revitalize an entire community, or $300 million into a filthy-rich millionaire's pockets? Gee, isn't that a tough choice?

I still need to look at the maps to figure out how you get LRT to the airport. But I know what you do next -- you run that sucka' right into the empty space widely known as Dead Bird Mall. I've been thinking about how a mall isn't always a Bad Thing -- it's the sort of pedestrian-friendly community center that would ideally serve as the retail hub of a thriving neighborhood. Run transit into the mall -- and I mean *into* the mall, make the station an integral part of the design -- and you've got a real solution to a host of problems, from pollution (less cars in the parking lot) to crime (if DART is willing to patrol properly).

And then on into Duncanville, somehow, perhaps to the southern Red Line extension. Or maybe the Red Line goes from Westmoreland through Duncanville and back up to Red Bird? I don't think that will fly (heh), because you've added 30 minutes to the travel time from North Dallas. I suspect the routing will somehow include the Wynnewood Village area -- another TOD waiting to happen.

Unlike Uptown, I *have* lived in OC, so don't be surprised to see a map or two within the next few days (or hours).

[RobertB]

Told you I'd have a map. This is just a map of the "study area", showing existing rail and the proposed rail to Duncanville. It looks like the investor group's idea for rail to Red Bird isn't that far-fetched after all -- existing rail spurs (or at least their associated ROW) extend from the future Red Line all the way to the edge of the airport at Westmoreland Road. I'll have to do some closer examination of aerial photos to see how much encroachment there has been, but it's a heavily industrial area -- disruptions will be minimal.

What I really need is a map of the group's proposal. I suspect they've already drawn some lines on the map where they'd like the rail line to run. But the article mentions needing some land from Boulder Park, which is to the south of the airport (and a big empty space, as I recall), so that may be the location they're looking at. Good access to US 67 and I-20. I suspect they're thinking of something like the second map -- a line that skirts the south side of the airfield, with a station on the west side of the stadium complex.

It's almost a no-brainer to take the line on down to the mall, but from there it's much more difficult. That's an established residential neighborhood between the mall and downtown Duncanville -- there's no way to route a line through it. (Aside: my great-aunt used to live on a *sheep farm* in the middle of that residential area!) One-station spurs are a Bad Thing, especially one like this that will only be used a dozen times a year.

Tonights scheduled obsessive thought: where to go after Red Bird...

[drumguy8800]

They could do that and then route it down the median of I-67 or I-20....... it would get used. To the west, they could route it up the same ROW that the red line (future) will be on, and then up Loop 12.. to.. somewhere. *shrug.*

I've always wanted to look around Boulder Park.. I think someone got some pictures of it in one of the photo threads.

[RobertB]

They could do that and then route it down the median of I-67 or I-20....... it would get used. To the west, they could route it up the same ROW that the red line (future) will be on, and then up Loop 12.. to.. somewhere. *shrug.*

I've always wanted to look around Boulder Park.. I think someone got some pictures of it in one of the photo threads.
One thing I'm staying away from in my designs is anything that requires shared usage of highway ROW. I have no faith in TxDOT to cooperate with DART on anything that threatens their car-based mandate.

Check out the US DOT's Highway History (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/history.htm) -- it's huge, I haven't digested all of it yet. But there are constant references to the "threat" that urban public transit systems posed to the highway system. Every dollar spent on transit-based urban planning was one less dollar for an Interstate. It's clear that from the '50s and '60s, the train has been declared the enemy of the highway. Bureaucracies have long institutional memories, and TxDOT doesn't strike me as a progressive bunch, so I'm keeping my proposals at arm's length from any TxDOT involvement.

Easier to tunnel 10 stories below Central than to convince the road-builders to make room for transit. Plus, the proposals I keep hearing (more info! please!) about boring tunnels under I-635 for cars! Yet the SUV crowd decries transit "subsidies". Grr.

[RobertB]

I need to be heading home, but here's an annotated aerial montage from the likely Red Line Duncanville extention to the edge of the Red Bird Airport property. The dfwmaps.com rail lines don't overlay the aerial photo very well, so I've highlighted them with red -- except where there's clearly no rail line or ROW anymore.

I've noted in yellow the three options. The northern branch has had its ROW encroached to the point where it is no longer feasable. The middle branch extends to right alongside a new-looking building, and I can't tell if those are train cars or trucks parked along the side. In either case, it looks like the LRT would be a tight squeeze, possibly with a noisy left-right turn right on the street.

The south branch looks like the best bet -- I think that asphalt there is the city-owned police training area, not a parking lot, so it should be pretty shallow and cheap to dig up and replace elsewhere. The ROW looks wide and available all the way back. There may be active frieight, but I think we can work around it, especially if the middle and northern branches are no longer active.

A lot of these questions can be answered with a bit of ground-pounding. Meanwhile, I've sent a note to the Cutter Aviation information email -- they're the Red Bird aviation service company most often mentioned in the news article. I'm asking if they can let us know what their plans are for transit through the stadium/airport complex... they've probably spent more time looking at those rails than I have!

[drumguy8800]

Plus, the proposals I keep hearing (more info! please!) about boring tunnels under I-635 for cars!

I'm assuming that if you spend enough time mulling around USDOT's Highway History, you've probably come across TXDOT's website, and thusly come across the info on there about the I-635 tunnels?

I cannot get the website to load (www.state.dot.tx.us) but.. I used to be able to. All other website are popping up just fine, so I don't know what's up.

[drumguy8800]

i got the website to work.. a few links

TXDOT Home (http://www.state.dot.tx.us)
Dallas District Home (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/dal/)
Fort Worth District Home (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/ftw/)
LBJ Corridor Project (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/DAL/mis/ih635/LBJhome.htm) (currently underway.. starting in Mesquite, then curving NW)
Project mini-overview (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/DAL/mis/ih635/overview.pdf) (PDF)
172 Page overview (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/dal/mis/ih635/lbjmanagedlanes.pdf) (PDF)

If you've seen any of the stuff they've done in Mesquite, it's very attractive. The design options.. talked about at length here (http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=2144) (in another thread) are all very attractive. The Majority of it in north Dallas will be trenched, and the I-35E / I-635 interchange will be costlier to reconstruct than the High Five. :).

The thread I linked to in the above paragraph (this one (http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=2144)) also has tons of little tidbits posted by rantanamo on the third post and some pictures of the construction in Mesquite.

And before you freak out when you see
"-One thing I noticed on one map is that it includes proposed DART rail lines. Intersting it has one running from the High Five area going along LBJ to where the Yellow line crosses LBJ. Interesting"
please note that he retracts the statement later.. there was just a slight change in color that threw him off.

[RobertB]

A lot of these questions can be answered with a bit of ground-pounding. Meanwhile, I've sent a note to the Cutter Aviation information email -- they're the Red Bird aviation service company most often mentioned in the news article. I'm asking if they can let us know what their plans are for transit through the stadium/airport complex... they've probably spent more time looking at those rails than I have!
Andy Biery at Cutter Aviation replied to my message with some great info. His full reply is in this thread (http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=2889), but here are some of his notes about the rail routing:

* "Our planned development for the stadium complex would place the Football field on the South side of Executive Airport, towards the westerly corner... Our thoughts for the local of the light rail station would place it coming down the west side of the Airport, east of Westmoreland, and continuing through the Mall and south."

* "For a real estate project to invite high-end commercial businesses, it must be beautiful. Parking lots are not. It is our desire to minimize parking areas, by utilizing DART parking in all other areas of town, and bring patrons in by rail. The largest nearby parking lot would be at Southwest Center Mall, with rail connection back to the stadium."

* "[A] light rail station at the Airport, connecting to Downtown, the convention center and TRE, makes the airport and stadium an extension of the Dallas Convention Center, which is in need of expansion."

* "This rail connection to downtown also links Dallas Executive Airport to probably the most important link in the system, the TRE. With access to the TRE, Executive Airport is now linked to D/FW, bringing the world."

So far, the Cutter Aviation proposal sounds like the ultimate Transit-Oriented Development. Very cool.