Starting March 30, Dallas Area Rapid Transit will be closing several light rail stations in the heart of downtown Dallas every weekend through September.
DART spokesman Mark Ball says the agency will be replacing worn-out railway tracks along Pacific Avenue and Bryan Street, adding a a second railway crossover, and addressing ongoing drainage problems.
"The area of downtown has seen some tremendous growth over the years," Ball said. "With construction that's occurred, there's been additional water runoff and clogging of some of those drains. The frequent disruptions through downtown as we've had to make repairs should be eliminated as we do some of those major improvements now."
Repair work will suspend weekend service at several stations: the Red and Blue Lines between Union Station and Pearl/Arts District Station, the Green Line between Victory and Deep Ellum Stations, and the Orange Line between Victory and LBJ/Central Station, and between Victory Station and Parker Road Station.
In lieu of the light rail, riders in the downtown area will have to catch one of five shuttles buses that'll move between the closed stations.
They're expected to run every ten minutes with stops at the Pearl/Arts District, St. Paul, Akard, West End, Union and Victory Stations. People should look for red "Rail Service Disruption" signs near the closed stations.
Ball said trains will return to their regular schedule from Monday to Friday. The weekend work is expected to wrap up in September, in time for the State Fair of Texas later that month.
