By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-845517.mp3
Dallas, TX – DART has approved the "Orange Line" rail connection to DFW Airport - connecting downtown Dallas to Terminal A by 2013.
That's what Irving city officials wanted to hear. Direct access into the airport was a key piece of the city's multi-million dollar transit oriented development along the Orange Line.
The DART Board also approved an airport connector to the proposed east-west Cotton Belt line. DART's Morgan Lyons says the "Cotton Belt" is not scheduled to connect from East Plano, thru Richardson, Addison, and Carrollton to the airport for another 12 to 15 years. But, he says they're looking for ways to speed-up construction.
Lyons: We've begun exploring the possibility of a public private partnership to design, build, operate, and maintain the Cotton Belt line. DART owns the Cotton Belt corridor from Wylie in Collin County all the way into north Fort Worth, right around 28th Street.
The "T" plans to run trains on the Cotton Belt line from southwest Fort Worth to the airport in 2013.
Lyons says the Cotton Belt project would be the first public-private venture for DART.