The city of Grapevine is getting new passenger rail service. It should be in place by 2012.
Voters passed a three-eighths of a cent increase in the sales tax to approve building a new extension of the old Cotton Belt line that will connect Grapevine with DFW Airport, and later the DART Rail System, Colleyville, North Richland Hills and the Fort Worth Stockyards.
It will also pass by Haltom City, Richland Hills and Southlake.
With proposed extensions, the southernmost stop would be near Texas Christian University at Berry Street in Fort Worth, with other stops in the Medical District, downtown and near Interstate 35W north of 28th Street.
This was a smart move by Grapevine as they didn’t wait for the Texas Lege to get anything done this session – good thinking because I don’t think anything did get done this session.
The Legislatures were expected to consider removing the 8.5 cent sales tax cap for cities wanting to increase their sales tax for public transportation infrastructure, like passenger rail.
But now Grapevine is ahead of the curve and the new rail service is sure to bring even more economic development to the area.
Startlegram writer OK Carter had an analyst/overview of the decision by Grapevine in Sunday’s paper.
I’d love to see a rail line extended into Waxahachie.
The NCTCOG has proposed a rail line that would extend to downtown Waxahachie, make a stop at 287 and 77, another stop in Red Oak, and a final stop in Lancaster before arriving at Union Station, connecting passengers to the rest of the DART and TRE lines.
I know Laurie and I would surely take advantage of the system if it was in place here.
The COG estimates the cost would be $266.66 million.
In Grapevine, the county tossed in $25 million to the rail and the COG is expected to throw in $60 million.
If Waxahachie could get a similar deal, (unlikely since the county just passed a $53.8 million bond issue for facilities) the remaining $181 million could be divided by all three cities bringing the cost to around $61 million each.
It’s going to take some serious sales tax revenue increases and/or a property tax increase to see that kind of money raised. But if the people want it, they can make it happen.
Just gotta remember to shop Waxahachie and start bugging the city council members about it.
With a downtown station and a station at 287 and 77 you can just imagine the growth Waxahachie could see. That 4.67% that COG is talking about could really rise quickly.
If I remember correctly, DART has said in the past that in every area where they’ve built a light rail station, they’ve seen an average of $3.3 million invested into new commercial and residential improvements.
That’s a lot of money that could come to downtown Waxahachie and add some needed retail, eateries as well as upstairs living spaces, such as lofts.
Read the latest COG report.
