STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Mobility Solutions, Infrastructure, and Sustainability
AGENDA DATE: January 22, 2020
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S): 11, 12
DEPARTMENT: Department of Transportation
EXECUTIVE: Majed Al-Ghafry
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SUBJECT
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an Interlocal Agreement between the City of Dallas and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) for the prohibition of freight services on DART’s Cotton Belt Line of approximately a three-mile section from the Dallas City Limit at the Dallas North Tollway to the Dallas City Limit west of Waterview Parkway - Financing: No cost consideration to the City
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BACKGROUND
DART is currently designing and planning the construction and operation of a 26-mile rail line between Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and the City of Plano known as the Cotton Belt Project (the “Project”). The project was recently renamed as the Silver Line. The Project alignment follows the existing Cotton Belt rail line that passes through the cities of Plano, Richardson, Dallas, Addison, Coppell and Carrollton. A portion of the Project alignment that passes through the northern part of the City is an approximate three-mile section between the Dallas City Limit at the Dallas North Tollway to the Dallas City Limit west of Waterview Parkway that is in close proximity to schools, parks, and mixed-use development, and has several at-grade street crossings within the aforementioned limits as well as in the Cypress Waters Development Area.
As part of public outreach and a thorough project review, local communities provided input to DART and to the City noting their concerns about the Project’s impacts. These comments were incorporated in the environmental review process which culminated in the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) issuance of a Record of Decision (ROD) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to DART. The FEIS included a provision noting the Surface Transportation Board’s decision approving the abandonment of freight service for 5.34 miles of the existing Cotton Belt rail line, including the portion of the rail line that passes through the northern part of the City of Dallas. This decision was supported by the Dallas City Council by Resolution No. 18-0488 dated March 28, 2018, whereby the City’s conditional support for the project included a provision that freight service would be prohibited on the Project line between Waterview Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway.
This Interlocal Agreement formalizes the prohibition of freight service on the approximate three-mile section in the northern part of the City of Dallas in accordance with Resolution No. 18-0488.
PRIOR ACTION/REVIEW (COUNCIL, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS)
On March 28, 2018, City Council adopted a resolution that lists support for the DART Cotton Belt Project and conditions associated with such support to mitigate the impacts of the project by Resolution No. 18-0488.
Information will be provided by memorandum to City Council on January 17, 2020.
FISCAL INFORMATION
No cost consideration to the City.