Tourism-friendly Fort Worth and Arlington could see a billion-dollar boost from a high-speed rail line.
An economic impact study commissioned last year by Tarrant County’s two largest cities shows both could benefit from a proposed route from Fort Worth and Arlington to Dallas and Houston as well as another option: linking Fort Worth to a planned San Antonio-to-Laredo passenger line along the Interstate 35 corridor. The study shows Fort Worth and Arlington could earn billions in property tax revenue over a 14-year period.
A high-speed rail station in downtown Fort Worth would help generate about $3.3 billion in property tax revenue from 2036 to 2050, while Arlington would receive about $4 billion in property tax revenue over the same period, according to the study produced by Aecom, a Dallas-based infrastructure consulting firm.
Tourism would play a part in new revenue for both cities.
In Fort Worth, a high-speed rail line could generate $1.2 billion in annual spending citywide from visitors and residents upon full build out of the system. In addition, hotel tax revenue would reach about $84 million each year, while about $24 million would come from annual sales tax revenue that includes money from Trinity Metro, the city’s transit authority.
In Arlington, the economic impact of high-speed rail would also be significant.
The study shows that Arlington could earn $4 billion in property taxes over a 14-year period — from 2036 to 2050 — after a system is completed. Another $1 billion would be generated from annual resident and visitor spending. Hotel tax revenue in Arlington would reach about $98 million each year, while another $21 million would come from annual sales tax revenue.
Economic development would be accelerated in both cities if a high-speed rail route is established, according to the study.
Fort Worth could see about $19.4 million in new commercial developments, while Arlington could see about $25.6 million in new commercial projects, the study showed.
While a high-speed rail “can unlock infill development or redevelopment activity, development patterns would (be) likely to follow existing suburban character of development without alignment of planning efforts connecting denser areas together,” officials wrote in the study.
A Dallas economic study showed billions of dollars in economic benefits to that city.
That study, by Boston Consulting Group Inc., projected a significant reduction in vehicle traffic — up to 2.5 million car trips removed from Texas roadways. The study also noted improved job and education access between the connected cities, and more than 20,000 jobs created over the lifetime of the project’s construction and operation.
Corridor update
North Texas transportation officials are planning talks with Dallas administrators to see if a proposed high-speed rail route from Fort Worth and Arlington can be built despite opposition from Dallas City Council members who adopted limits on where a downtown route could operate.
Regional Transportation Council leaders said they want to discuss options for a proposed western alignment route that would run west of downtown Dallas to reach a station south of the city’s Central Business District and Interstate 30. That station would connect North Texas to Houston.
“The request is to start after the Dallas council summer break,” said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. “We’ll report that to the RTC Thursday. There’s no rush to it. I’d rather it simmer a little bit and create some sort of partnership to get that done.”
Transportation council members decided in November to advance the western alignment with an elevated track despite opposition from Dallas, where council members approved two resolutions that limit where a rail line can be built.
Dan Lamers, a senior program manager for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, told RTC members in May that the route needed to be outside of development areas for the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in downtown Dallas and the former Reunion Arena site.
“We had questions — does this particular resolution essentially preclude the western alignment that we had been spending the last two-plus years on? We haven’t formally heard anything from the city of Dallas on this point,” Lamers told RTC members last month.
A high-speed rail line is needed to accommodate 12.5 million people expected to move to North Texas within the next 25 years, Morris said, adding that more than 200,000 move to the area every year.
“That’s a million people every five years. … I can’t imagine living in this region with 12.5 million people without high-speed rail,” Morris said.
Alternative route
If the train can’t reach the Dallas station, another high-speed route would be considered since about $13 million in transportation funds has been spent to develop the corridor and western alignment route.
Under that proposal, a high-speed rail line would start at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, stop in downtown Fort Worth and Arlington then move south along the Interstate 35 corridor to Austin, San Antonio and Laredo.
Five Metropolitan Planning Organizations on the route have pledged their support when the conceptual planning study was completed in 2020, the study shows.
“We already have support from all the Metropolitan Planning Organizations — Waco, Temple-Killeen, Austin, San Antonio — (the agreements are) somewhat dated from five or six years ago,” Morris said.
“If we’re unsuccessful — and I’m not sure we’ll be unsuccessful — high-speed rail between Arlington, Fort Worth and going to Austin, San Antonio (is) another way,” Morris said. “There’s a big push to get the Dallas-to-Houston (route) done now. Now, being literally now — between now and the midterm election.
“There’s still a lot of spinning plates going on right now,” he said. “We’ll just try to coordinate those and find the best path forward.”
Planning transportation options for the future can be tricky, Morris said.
“I want to make sure that someone doesn’t say in 2050, ‘Why didn’t someone back in 2026 work a little bit harder on multimodal solutions?’” Morris said. “That’s not going to happen on my watch.”
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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