Denton Council Backs Downtown Site For Combo Bus/rail Station

[NT80]

Could this eventually lead to DART from Dallas to Denton then shuttles to UNT Games?

............................................................................................................................

Council backs new station site

Center for the Visual Arts would be spared under proposal issued Monday

11:22 PM CDT on Monday, April 23, 2007

By Lowell Brown / Staff Writer

Denton’s proposed downtown transit station likely won’t displace the Center for the Visual Arts after all.

City Council members on Monday endorsed a bus station site on city-owned land at the southeast corner of East Hickory Street and Railroad Avenue — just east of the Center for the Visual Arts building. A parking lot and facilities management building currently occupy the space.

The site is also the anticipated location of the Denton County Transportation Authority’s downtown commuter rail platform. DCTA plans to bring commuter rail to Denton from Carrollton as early as 2010, linking Denton to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit line that stops in Carrollton.

“Rail [service] won’t work for the city unless we can put bus [service] with it,” Denton council member Bob Montgomery said. “And by doing it this way, rail and bus will go side by side.”

Officials hope the bus and rail service would be a springboard for pedestrian-friendly development around the site.

The $3.72 million bus transfer facility would include indoor and outdoor public amenities, including benches, canopies and restrooms, city officials said.

The facility would become DCTA’s central bus hub in Denton, supplanting the area known as Williams Square east of the Wells Fargo building, DCTA spokeswoman Dee Leggett said.

“It also would provide the city and DCTA more of a transit presence in the community,” Leggett said. “It would really establish the city of Denton as a leader in the provision of transit services.”

Council members indirectly approved the bus station site as part of an ordinance dealing with the city’s application for $3.1 million in federal aid for the project.

The city and DCTA would work together to fund the required $620,000 local contribution, said Mark Nelson, Denton’s chief transportation officer.

If funding is secured on schedule, the station could be completed as early as 2009, he said.

City staff members recommended the site rather than two other possibilities: the Center for the Visual Arts building on East Hickory Street and another undisclosed location to the south, Nelson said.

Local arts leaders had expressed concern about losing the visual arts building, especially in light of the city’s plans to revamp Hickory Street into a pedestrian-friendly “arts walk.”

Officials hadn’t decided whether to renovate or replace the facilities management building on the selected site, or how they would make up for the lost parking lot, which serves the facilities management building and City Hall East across the street, Nelson said.

Although the city owns the site, council members met behind closed doors to discuss acquiring land around it as part of the project.

After the meeting, Montgomery said the city expected to buy one additional piece of land and would be entering into negotiations with its owner, whom he declined to name.

[FirefightnRick]

Hello Weatherford Texas! Anyone home? Hello!!!!????

Rick

[gksmith]

I hope someone is smart enough to put a stop in Lewisville along the way.

I would ride the rail the few times I actually go to DT Dallas. Glad someone wised up!

[UNTflyer]

The plan right now is to have two stops in Denton and then one in C/FB to link up with DART. I'm sure a Lewisville stop will happen in the future, but if I recall correctly it is delayed due to construction plans in the I-35/407 area.

[mean gruene]

ok there was a vote on the topic of who was to pay for this about 2 years ago. all of the towns pass the bill to pay for the rail along I-35, well all but corinth or lake dallas i cant seem to remeber. so there should be a stop in every town except corinth or lake dallas. i will look for the article on the drc website when i get a chance.

[gksmith]

ok there was a vote on the topic of who was to pay for this about 2 years ago. all of the towns pass the bill to pay for the rail along I-35, well all but corinth or lake dallas i cant seem to remeber. so there should be a stop in every town except corinth or lake dallas. i will look for the article on the drc website when i get a chance.

I remember the porposal you are talking about. This was county wide and had a rail system to connect with Dart in Carrolton. Unfortunately, it was voted down. The no votes came from cities like Flower Mound, and others off of I35 that would not receive benifits from the system till later. Places like Lake Dallas and Lewisville would get immediate use from the proposed system. I was very disapointed because I thought it was a very good idea to link up Denton to DT Dallas. Not enough forward thinkers in the other cities to vote for it.