By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-908977.mp3
Dallas, TX – DART has halted construction plans for a rail line to DFW because of a budget shortfall. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports other rail projects are being put on hold as well.
DART officials say they are indefinitely delaying plans to build the final segment of the Orange Line from Irving to Terminal A at DFW Airport. DART's Morgan Lyons says the project is popular because it provides the final link between DFW and downtown Dallas.
Lyons: Folks want to have that one-seat trip from the airport to downtown and we're committed to trying to find a way to make that happen. We're very disappointed we are not going to be able to maintain our schedule. Our current financial plan doesn't support getting us to the airport by 2013.
Lyons says two other rail projects are also on hold- the second Downtown Dallas alignment that would relieve congestion and the extension of the Blue Line to the UNT Dallas campus on Simpson Stuart in the Southern sector.
Lyons says DART officials decided to delay the projects after realizing sales tax revenues for this fiscal year will be about $15 million less than expected. That's critical because some three-fourths of DART's income is from a one-cent sales tax collected in the cities it serves.
DART says it will complete other rail projects on time including the Green Line to Carrollton; the Blue Line to Rowlett and the first two sections of the Orange Line out to Irving.