Denton breaks ground on DART transit center

Designed to support TOD

Steve Hawley, Mar 31, 10.

The City of Denton, about 20 miles north of Dallas-Fort Worth, broke ground last week on a transit center that will connect the city to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) rail network, according to Pegasus News.

The project will redevelop an existing city property to provide a transit station and 8,800 square feet of office space and public meeting areas, and it includes a performance venue for local artists and musicians.

The article reports:

The [Denton County Transportation Authority] A-train passenger rail system will connect Denton County with the DART system and the rest of the North Texas region, creating an economic development mechanism for Denton County and the region as a whole. The A-train project, a central element of DCTA’s service plan includes phased construction of 21 miles of regional rail, five rail stations, an adjacent bicycle/pedestrian trail, and a regional rail operations and maintenance facility. The A-train project will be complete in the summer of 2011 when revenue service opens to downtown Denton.

Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs said, “This groundbreaking event is a significant occasion because these two facilities will have a significant and positive impact on Denton residents for many generations. These projects will work as a catalyst for redevelopment of the Downtown area, and particularly around this location we anticipated Transit Oriented Development to occur rather quickly.”