...
By James Bickerton
News Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Proposals for a new high-speed rail line in Texas connecting Dallas and Fort Worth face further delay, after members of Dallas City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday saying they would oppose a key part of the plan until an economic impact study is completed.
The scheme is being coordinated by the North Central Texas Council of Government (NCTCOG), though details remain scarce and the project has yet to receive National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) clearance.
The past few years have seen a surge in interest about high-speed rail in the U.S., with a number of lines either proposed or under construction across the country. Building work began in April on a new 218-mile high-speed railway connecting Las Vegas in Nevada to southern California. And in April President Joe Biden endorsed plans for a new high-speed line between Dallas and Houston, based around Japanese Shinkansen technology.
Read More on U.S.
On Wednesday the Dallas City Council voted 14-0 in favor of a resolution opposing the construction of any elevated passenger rail through the Central Business District, a key component of the Dallas-Fort Worth proposal, until the completion of an economic impact assessment expected in early 2025.
It came three months after plans for a 30-mile stretch of rail, as part of the planned Dallas-Fort Worth line, were presented to the council by the NCTCOG's Regional Transportation Council (RTC).
According to local network NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, one of those who raised concerns on Wednesday was councilmember Jesse Moreno, who commented: "My hope is that this resolution will send a clear message that the city of Dallas does not currently support the above-ground alignment that's been presented."
Council member Chad West also called for more research on the plan's economic impact, saying: "I do want to support the alignment to Fort Worth.
"We can't do big projects without understanding the economic impact, especially if we're going to be cutting off part of downtown, which we've seen."
...
Omar Narvaez, a council member who also sits on the 44-member RTC as its representative for Dallas, said she understood why the council wanted to slow things down.
She said: "We can pause, tap the brakes, whatever you want to call it, and that's okay because we need to get this right. This is going to affect Dallas for the next 100 years, easily."
Newsweek contacted the NCTCOG for comment by telephone and voicemail message outside of usual business hours on Thursday.
The proposed Dallas to Fort Worth high-speed railway would run parallel to Interstate 30 before cutting across part of downtown by the Reunion Tower.
Speaking to The Dallas Morning News in May Brendon Wheeler, the NCTCOG's transportation planning manager, said the lack of NEPA approval for the Dallas to Fort Worth line was currently putting off investors.
He said: "Especially for foreign investors that see the economic benefit of high-speed rail, they're very concerned with the NEPA process from a standpoint...It introduces risk into their pocketbook."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines