Dallas gets set to add streetcar route

Leveraging $23 million in federal stimulus funds obtained last February, the city of Dallas, aided by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, expects to move forward on a 1.5-mile streetcar route linking Dallas Union Station with Methodist Dallas Medical Center in the Oak Cliff neighborhood, southwest of downtown Dallas.

The project, estimated to cost $35 million, would also be funded from regional toll road revenue. The project is separate from the Olive/St. Paul Street Loop, a Dallas streetcar project awarded $5 million Thursday by DOT and the Federal Transit Administration.

The city of Dallas would own the line, while Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) would operate it through an agreement with the city. Streetcar fares and revenues from parking, tax-increment financing, and public improvement districts would cover annual operating and maintenance costs, estimated at $1.5 million.

Groundbreaking is targeted for July 2013, with revenue operation beginning in October 2015. But “there are a lot of caveats and unknowns,” said Tom Shelton, a senior transportation project manager for the North Cenral Texas Council of Governments. Among the unknown factors: the load capability of the Houston Street Bridge, on which a structural analysis will be made this summer.