DART votes to fund both downtown subway and suburban rail
Dallas News | Julie Fancher | October 26, 2016
A sea of yellow and green — supporters of the Cotton Belt rail line in yellow and downtown subway in green — filled the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board meeting Tuesday night as officials finally voted on their 20-year financial plan that had left many wondering which long-term project the board would support. It was standing room only as the DART board voted 12-3 to fund both the Cotton Belt rail line and the subway version of a second downtown light rail, known as the D2 subway, as part of their 2017 20-year financial plan. The Cotton Belt has long been seen as providing a necessary east-west transit connection between northern suburbs, the airport and existing north-south rail lines that currently connect only in downtown Dallas. Recently it had been considered as part of DART’s 2035 financial plan, even though DART had promised an east-west corridor since its creation in 1983. DART officials expect to complete the projects in the next six years. Both projects would cost more than $1 billion each.