Agenda

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Item # 15.

Work Session and Regular Meeting

Meeting Date:	07/09/2019
Department:	Development Services

AGENDA CAPTION:

Present, Discuss and Consider Action on the Status of Construction Along the Cotton Belt Regional Rail Corridor and the Development of Properties Adjacent to the Rail Corridor.

BACKGROUND:

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has been making progress towards providing regional rail service to passengers on the Cotton Belt rail line with revenue service anticipated by the end of 2022. In December 2018, DART awarded a contract to Archer Western Herzog Joint Venture (AWH) for the design and construction of the Cotton Belt Regional Rail Project. AWH's work is progressing with design development and some preliminary construction activities within the corridor.

In association with DART's project, the North Central Texas Council of Government (NCTCOG) has been coordinating with DART, Dallas County, and the cities along the rail line to construct a hike and bike trail within the corridor. NCTCOG's goal is to coordinate funding for the trail among the various stakeholders so that as much of the trail as possible can be built by DART and AWH while the rail line is being constructed. Most of the funding for this is coming from federal funds, which require a 20% local match. Dallas County has agreed to cover half of the cost of the local match. Additionally, Dallas County has agreed to completely fund certain portions of the trail not included in the Regional Transportation Council's funding approvals. For Addison, this means that the entire trail, as it runs through the Town, will be constructed as the rail line is built. The Town's required contribution to this project is expected to total $307,469.

The Town has also been working to create a new transit oriented development surrounding the planned rail station in Addison. This process began with the creation of a vision established through the Addison Circle Special Area Study, which was adopted by Council earlier in 2019. Since then, staff has been working on a plan to solicit developer interest before releasing a call for developers in the first quarter of 2020.

The attached presentation provides a status update on these three projects.

RECOMMENDATION:

Information only, no action required.

Attachments
Presentation - Cotton Belt Update