Dallas Area Rapid Transit recently secured a $908 million dollar loan for its Cotton Belt Corridor project. The loan was granted through a federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program.
The Cotton Belt Corridor is a 26-mile commuter rail which will run through Plano, Richardson, North Dallas, Addison, Carrollton, Coppell, and Grapevine. It will end at DFW Airport and provide access to the airport’s Skylink People Mover. The Cotton Belt Corridor comes as part of a series of mass transit projects planned for Collin County.
Plans for the Cotton Belt Corridor have been in the works since 1983, however the 10-stop rail was not approved for construction until October 2006, when it was identified as a priority project in the DART 2030 Transit System Plan.
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UT Dallas, Knoll Trail, Cypress Waters and DFW North are all projected stops along the Cotton Belt Corridor line. Construction on the rail, along with new DART stations, is set to begin early 2019 and is expected to take at least 18 months.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Archer Western Herzog joint venture would be designing and building the Cotton Belt Corridor.
“North Texas is booming, and this reliable, local transit option will be a welcomed addition for many residents,” said David Casey, president of Archer Western’s heavy civil division, in a press release. “We are thrilled to partner with DART and connect the communities of North Texas via Cotton Belt’s high-quality transit service.”
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The Cotton Belt Corridor is expected to open by the end of 2022. It is expected to carry about 7,000 riders each day. For more information on the Cotton Belt Corridor and other Dallas Area Rapid Transit projects, visit dart.org.
