Leaders in the city of Rowlett have had a change of heart about their calls to reduce funding for Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
During a city council meeting Tuesday, members voted to rescind a previous resolution that called to reduce DART’s funding and instead support full funding for the agency. This comes as the agency faces legislation that could severely hinder its operations.
Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Winget, who’s Rowlett’s acting mayor, said the decision was a result of constructive conversations with DART that led to a number of concessions for Rowlett.
“I'm really pleased at the work that they've done,” Winget said. “I'm excited that our work had this motivation for them to make these improvements.”
Among the concessions is a shared parking agreement that allows the city to use DART’s parking lot at the downtown Rowlett light rail station for special events and general parking for nearby businesses. DART also agreed to develop a GoLink service to Firewheel Town Center in nearby Garland.
DART CEO Nadine Lee said the agency also plans to create a “gateway concept” for Martin Drive, a street that crosses DART’s rail line from the city’s downtown.
“[We’re] really trying to figure out a way to draw people's attention so that the rail is not not a barrier between the access to the parking and also your downtown businesses,” Lee said.
Rowlett was among several of DART's suburban member cities to call for a 25% cut to their contribution to the agency. DART leaders have been in discussions with cities to try to garner support as two bills in the Statehouse seek to reduce its funding.
Speaking before Tuesday's vote, Place 1 council member Jonathan Reeves said he had previously voted to reduce DART’s funding based on “incomplete information.”
“I was ignorant on that issue going back to that time and I have since made time to educate myself and to look at the bigger picture,” Reeves said. “I've had a change of heart in regard of that.”
The decision was celebrated by advocates at the Dallas Area Transit Alliance, a group of organized DART riders that is working to stop lawmakers from cutting the agency’s funds.
“DATA applauds the City of Rowlett for this strong show of support for DART,” the group said in a statement. “We are grateful to the city councilmembers for their willingness to reconsider their prior resolution after outreach from DART and DART-riding citizens of Rowlett, and we hope that the other cities that adopted similar resolutions last year follow Rowlett’s lead.”
Members of Dallas' transportation and infrastructure committee last month advanced a similar resolution to support full funding for DART.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org. You can follow him on X @pabloaarauz.
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