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Transportation Gathers Steam
Federal aid helps advance local projects
North Texas’ transportation system has built tremendous momentum in the past few years, and 2009 is turning out to be a particularly decisive year in the fight against congestion. Projects that policymakers and planners have discussed for years are closer than ever to construction.
Improvements to the region’s roads and rails are abundant, whether through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act–from which the region received more than $600 million for transportation project–or other revenue sources.
Earlier this year, the Texas Transportation Commission approved contracts to develop three long-awaited projects.
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The North Tarrant Express and the LBJ Managed Lanes Project will be built with the help of comprehensive development agreements.
The DFW Connector, a project at the intersection of several major highways north of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, will be handled with a design-build contract. It received $250 million in recovery act funding, which, when added to the $660 million already allocated to the project, will help pay for the first phases of the massive highway project.
And after decades of discussion, construction of Southwest Parkway could begin soon. The recovery act will pay for $143 million in needed improvements in the corridor that will make travel safer and more efficient. The federal aid will help with the construction of interchanges at the intersections with IH 20 in Fort Worth and U.S. Highway 67 in Cleburne. |
The eastern side of the region is benefiting from a range of projects, including major toll road revenues from State Highway 121 and light rail expansion.
The Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge and another segment of State Highway 161 opened over the summer.
Rail expansion continues, even without local-option funding. The first segment of Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Green Line opened in September, offering service to Fair Park. The Green Line will eventually extend from Carrollton to Pleasant Grove. DART’s Orange Line will provide service to Irving and DFW Airport; the Blue Line will be extended from downtown Garland to Rowlett.
The Denton County Transportation Authority broke ground this year on its 21-mile commuter rail line that will meet the DART line in Carrollton. And the Fort Worth Transportation Authority plans rail service from southwest Fort Worth to DFW Airport. Further rail expansion likely rests on whether the Legislature gives North Texas and other metropolitan areas across the state the funding necessary to carry out their plans.
Still, North Texas has been forced to deal with challenges as it seeks more transportation funding at a time when additional money for anything is scarce. The state is facing a 20-year transportation shortfall of more than $300 billion. FWTAexas Local Option Transportation Act, which would have provided the region with a mechanism to raise desperately needed funds for road and rail projects, was not approved by the Legislature.
And it took a special session for lawmakers to extend the life of the Texas Department of Transportation. During the two-day extra session, lawmakers also authorized $2 billion in road-building bonds. A bill that would have extended the life of public-private partnerships to build roads failed, but North Texas’ current projects will proceed.
Legislation giving North Texas more revenue for transportation would brighten the long-term outlook for the region’s infrastructure. Until this happens, planners and policymakers will continue to use the tools at their disposal to meet the needs of the area’s expanding population.
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Grassroots Involvement Will Help Drive Rail Expansion
A Message from Michael Morris, Transportation Director
Plans of an expanded rail network are still alive, despite the results of this year's legislative session. Regional transportation leaders and members of the North Texas legislative delegation have worked too hard for six years in pursuit of a local remedy to congestion to give up.
While the Texas Local Option Transportation Act, or TLOTA, was not approved during the 81st Legislature, there is no need for its advocates to be discouraged. Regional policymakers are now moving forward with determination and resolve.
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TLOTA would have permitted voters in the state’s metropolitan areas to increase their own taxes to fund transportation improvements. The continuing deterioration in the reliability of commutes and the current TxDOT transportation financial crisis will necessitate a local solution from those who face the Metroplex’s mobility challenges daily.
One thing became clear during the most recent attempt to win approval of the local-option tax: While it is essential to have important local and state leaders pursuing the issue, the people who would directly benefit cannot be left out of the equation.
A clearer explanation of the benefits of expanded transit options — and the consequences of inaction — will be given to residents before the next phase of the effort. But it's important that residents continue speaking up about their preferences. To start with, Dallas-Fort Worth is among the worst spots in the nation for congestion. We must continue to make progress to help existing residents and the thousands moving here each year get to work on time and home at night.
Texas has a well-established tradition of voter-supported transportation measures. The region’s three transit agencies are funded with local-option sales taxes. Communities with the sales-tax capacity may also ask voters for an additional portion to help pay for street repairs. The problem for many cities is they are maxed out and cannot increase their sales tax rates, even to pay for improvements that could ease a problem as inescapable in North Texas as traffic congestion. |
Local leaders simply want voters to be able to choose how best to get the traffic moving again. In some outlying areas rail is probably not the best option. They may need extra funding to pay for street improvements, construction of a new road, or a safety improvement. But voters in these areas should have the chance to secure extra money, especially since they are the ones using the roads most often.
Previous attempts to gain legislative approval to fund transit expansion with sales tax set above the state-mandated cap were unsuccessful. For the 81st session, the Regional Transportation Council developed a menu of taxes and fees. The RTC also opened the effort to all transportation improvements, not just passenger rail.
The effort to build a consensus for a local solution to congestion will be undertaken during one of the busiest times for construction in many years, thanks to an influx of economic recovery and innovative funding.
The foresight of leaders who recognized traditional transportation funding sources would not sufficiently address increasing costs and population enables transportation projects–to the tune of $10 billion–to continue. With the projects we have and the innovative financing that goes with many of them, Dallas-Fort Worth is able to respond to transportation challenges better than most regions across the country. |
While it is essential to have important local and state leaders pursuing the local-option proposal, the people who would directly benefit cannot be left out of the equation. |
Securing rail funding, however, remains atop the list. Educating residents about how additional transportation funding and improved rail access could improve quality of life will be essential in the pursuit of local-option funding. A unified approach that involves the people battling traffic every day will help our already motivated leaders accomplish this after years of trying. After all … mobility matters.
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Hicks Enjoys Balancing Regional, City Goals
Regional Transportation Council Member Profile - Kathleen Hicks, Councilmember,
City of Fort Worth
Kathleen Hicks talks fondly of the days when she was able to rely more heavily on mass transit to move from place to place. While a student at Mount Holyoke College, outside Springfield, Mass., and Nottingham University in England, that was a little easier to do than in North Texas. Transit is more established in both the Northeastern U.S. and Europe.
Today, Hicks, who represents District 8 on the Fort Worth City Council, lives a short distance from City Hall, but relies far less on mass transit.
She finds it more convenient to drive to her City Hall office, largely because Fort Worth’s transit system – much like the region’s – is still being developed. Hicks is in a position to help the bus and rail systems mature over the next several years.
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Since 2005, she has been a member of the Regional Transportation Council, the 43-member transportation policymaking body of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Membership on the RTC has given her a hand in the development of long-term transportation policies for North Texas, a slight departure for a member of City Council. As a councilmember, Hicks, first elected in 2005, deals mainly with short-term issues, she said. On the RTC, she helps determine how the city – and region – will look in 20 years or more, planning for roads, rail and other development that will accommodate anticipated growth.
With an increased interest in downtown living – and denser developments in general – rail is becoming a more attractive option for many residents. In the 1950s, the interstate highway system revolutionized travel in the U.S., but only building more roads is no longer the answer to improving transportation, she said. |
To solve the transportation problems of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, policymakers will have to continue thinking regionally, she said, focusing on more than just their cities or counties.
She pointed to the joint application to the federal government by Dallas and Fort Worth for trolley funds as an example of how the cities are thinking more about their neighbors than in the past.
“Unfortunately, we’re known for being in competition, but I don’t think that’s the way to go anymore,” she said. “I never thought it was.”
Air quality is another issue she believes must be improved with the cooperation of all neighboring cities and counties. “Fort Worth can’t solve that alone,” she said. “When I go outside, I don’t just breathe Fort Worth air.”
Hicks sees a shift in thinking away from a car-dominated society toward one that embraces a more comprehensive transportation system. She remembers the work of Dallas Area Rapid Transit to get started and thinks her city can learn from its neighbor’s experience.
She wants Fort Worth to continue pushing toward passenger rail to give residents another option as the city grows.
“I think it’s going to hurt us if we don’t,” she said. “I get complaints from people tired of sitting on the road for 30, 40 minutes to get to a place it should take 10.”
Transportation projects are also important for economic development, she said, pointing to the $75 million redevelopment project at the Old Masonic Home and School, off U.S. Highway 287 in southeast Fort Worth. The project was aided when the RTC awarded funding to improve the exit from U.S. 287, she said.
Fort Worth and the region face many challenges in the years to come. The bottleneck at Tower 55, one of the nation’s busiest at-grade rail intersections, Southwest Parkway and the Southwest-to-Northeast rail project are just a few that will affect the lives of not only Fort Worth residents, but people living throughout the metropolitan area. Hicks is drawing on her experience with transit systems around the world to improve transportation at home.
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Mobility Matters is prepared in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the opinions, findings and conclusions presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration or the Texas Department of Transportation. |
