City officials of Richardson will conduct a meeting regarding the DART’s Silver Line that will traverse from Dallas to Fort-Worth according to a Dallas Morning News article from April 5. They say,
“Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Silver Line — a $1.2 billion rail project in the works for about 30 years — includes Richardson among the stops it will have from Plano to DFW Airport. In addition to Richardson and Plano, plans also call for the Silver Line to pass through the cities of Grapevine, Coppell, Dallas, Carrollton and Addison, where other community meetings are being held.
The expected opening for the project is late 2024. Construction delays, the COVID-19 pandemic and unsettled agreements have been blamed for delays in the project, which was initially scheduled to open to riders this year.
Friday’s meeting is being hosted by Archer Western Herzog, the contractor for the project. All members of the public are invited to attend, but seating inside the restaurant will be limited.”
The meeting of the officials are brought about by the fact that the DART will not only bring mobility to the residents but also economic opportunities according to Richardson Deputy City Manager Don Magner in a Community Impact article which reports,
“The connection it provides to DFW Airport will be essential in our economic development strategy,” Magner said. “We continue to try to grow the international business presence here.”
Magner said the transit connection options will make employment areas, such as the city’s Innovation Quarter, a 1,200-acre industrial area south of CityLine, more attractive to potential workers. In a 2018 Richardson vision statement, city officials said they hope The IQ will become the “premier tech hub in Texas.”
Magner said the Silver Line and DART’s Red Line were big selling points for development around CityLine. At the UT Dallas Station, he said, not only will the rail connection benefit students but the land the university owns north and northwest of the station will also become more sought after.
“Much of the undeveloped land in Richardson is around [there],” Magner said. “It has the potential for sustainable property value creation. That is very important.”
Richardson will be having two stations out of the ten DART stations that will be eventually built and finished by 2024.