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“Each
station has its own concept so they won’t compete with one another,”
said Michael Wanchick, assistant city manager for development services
for the city of Richardson. In his city, the Arapaho station is focused
more on entertainment, the Main Street station has more of an international
flavor and the Spring Valley station will be mixed use with more office
and big users.
The Parker Road Station is located at Park Boulevard and Parker Road adjacent
to the East Plano Transit Center and will have 1,385 free parking spaces
with destinations including Collin County Community College, Plano Centre
and Texas Instruments Spring Creek Campus. It is the northern end of DART’s
Red Line. The station is surrounded by a wide range of offices and businesses
north and south of Parker Road, and will serve as a commuter center for
surrounding communities.
The Downtown Plano Station is located at Avenue J between 15th Place and
16th Street and is called a “Kiss and Ride” with pick-up and
drop-off areas with no parking spaces. Its destinations include the ArtCentre
of Plano, Courtyard Theater, Eastside Village shopping and restaurants,
the Interurban Railway Station Museum and Plano Municipal Center.
Downtown Plano Station serves downtown Plano, the Plano Municipal Center,
Plano’s courthouse, several churches, and many special events –
including Plano Arts Council productions and the annual Dickens in Historic
Downtown Plano.
The Bush Turnpike Station is located at President George Bush Turnpike
east of North Central Expressway in north Richardson and will feature
778 free parking spaces with destinations including Disctronics, Luminator,
Mervyn’s and Perot Systems. Large tracts of land adjacent to the
station are earmarked for large mixed-use developments.
Galatyn Park is being developed via a unique public/private partnership
between Galatyn Park Corporation, DART and the City of Richardson. Located
along Richardson’s Telecom Corridor® at Central Expressway and
the President George Bush Turnpike, it will be a 500-acre, mixed-use development
with DART-rail service, office complexes, hotels, retail stores and restaurants.
Once operational, light rail service will be available at Galatyn Park
every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 20 minutes during off-peak
periods.
Frank Turner, executive director for the city of Plano, said the new DART
lines should make it easier for residents to commute to downtown Dallas
and employment centers.
When it comes to easing commuting issues, city leaders hope commuters
will have more time and money to spend in their cities. So, as more people
are using the DART services, the cities are likely to experience growth
in development of the areas surrounding the rail stations.
“The new stations will be a boost to redevelopment efforts around
the stations,” Wanchick said.
The 190 station is really the city’s future with many property owners
looking at redevelopment there now, he added.
“The three southern stations have created a lot of interest in new
development around them,” Wanchick said. “We are doing some
land use planning with consultants now and we’re holding off people
until we can complete it. It will be presented this month and shortly
after the first of the year we will be working toward implementing it.
We anticipation a mixed use with retail and residential developments.”
According to DART information, a study by Bernard Weinstein of the University
of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research determined
that values of properties adjoining DART light rail stations grew 25 percent
more than similar properties not served by the rail system. Additionally,
his study found that proximity to DART light rail stations appears to
be a plus for most classes of real estate, especially Class A and C office
buildings and strip retail.
The average occupancies for Class A buildings near rail increased from
80 percent in 1994 to 88.5 percent in 1998, while rents increased from
an average $15.60 per square foot to $23 per square foot, according to
Weinstein. Strip retailers studied near the stations registered a 49.5
percent gain in occupancy and a 64.8 percent improvement in rental rates.
“We hope it will also provide a reverse commute with the people
living south of Plano who work along U.S. 75 and the Research and Technology
area riding Dart also as a leisure activity to the West End or the zoo
and we hope they’ll come to downtown Plano, too,” Turner said.
The downtown area will be connected to surrounding sites such as Collin
Creek Mall with a small bus that looks like old trolley. Turner called
it the “rubber wheel trolley.”
As traffic congestion is alleviated, parking problems for commuters have
been a past problem, but efforts to combat that are in place, officials
said.
“We have learned from the system south of us about how to anticipate
and plan for parking,” Turner said. “The primary park and
ride will be at the Parker Road station, which has about 1,200 to 1,500
parking spaces and the George Bush facility, which has about 600 to 800
spaces. So, there is ample parking.”
Downtown is different, though, he said. There is no dedicated parking
to DART ridership.
“We call it kiss and ride. It is a site to drop-off loved ones for
work. We hope they will do that or take the “rubber wheel trolley”
to help them reach their destinations,” Turner said.
“The station that opened this summer has been operating over capacity
since it opened,” said Wanchick. “People can’t find
a parking place because there has been a real demand for those services.
We’ve relaxed the parking enforcement for now because DART has plans
to create more parking at the 190 station and could even do a multilevel
parking facility if needed. The Plano stations will have a lot of parking,
he added.
“When they opened at Arapaho, you couldn’t find a parking
place. So, I’m interested to see if it causes a traffic and parking
problem in downtown Plano, the stations with the parking will be at 190
and Parker,” said Collin County Judge Ron Harris.
Each station will also spur different developments, he said.
“The northern section at the Parker Road station is being studied
in detail for opportunities for development. It is an end of the line
station, which makes it different. It will have 15 to 20 acres of parking
with opportunities for employment or residential use,”
Turner said.
With or without parking problems, alleviating one additional headache
may be accomplished by the rail service – compliance with state
and federal clean air regulations. Less vehicle emissions resulting from
fewer cars on the road make compliance look more possible.
“Transit is one of the strategies for improving air quality,”
Turner said.
Harris said he believes the rail “absolutely will help” the
county’s air quality.
“Use of DART rail and buses figured in as part of our solution,
“Wanchick said. “We’re on the cusp of compliance and
this could effect how we will start contributing by next summer with stations
in Garland, Irving and Collin County
The rail services “happens to be good for mobility in general; it
helps save time and money,” Harris said.
The opening of these three stations marks the completion of the first
phase of DART’s light rail expansion, adding new stations in North
Dallas, Garland, Richardson and Plano. DART also rolls out new rail feeder
bus service on Dec. 9, making it easier to connect with the rail system.
“The Galleria with a train is the vision for the DART light rail
190 station,” said Don Dillard of Galatyn Park Development that
owns half of the 100acres surrounding the station. “With trains
coming from both north and south, the opportunity or development is enhanced.”
The Hill family and Caruth family both own land adjacent to the station
and both donated land for parking and drop-of at the station.
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