Dallas Puts New Downtown Light Rail Line on the Fast Track

"The Dallas City Council this morning overwhelmingly chose what’s called the Jackson or Modified B4 alignment for Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s second downtown light-rail route," reports Brandon Formby. The alternative vote, supported by one city councilmember, would have used an underground route through downtown.

The City Council is moving quickly to apply for about $400 million from the Federal Transit Administration—so a final vote is expected later this month to help DART make the September 30 deadline for the last round of founding before 2017, when a new presidential administration will take power.

The article goes into a lot more detail about how the project will ease pressures on the downtown hub of the DART light rail system and how the new route could lead toward additional investments in downtown transit connections, like longer station platforms for light rail and expanded streetcar service.