Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker challenges Dallas opposition to high speed rail extension
The future success of the Metroplex depends on regional partners working collaboratively especially when it comes to high speed rail, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement released Thursday.
Parker’s comments came a day after the Dallas City Council unanimously passed a resolution withdrawing support for an above ground high speed rail connection between Dallas and Fort Worth.
The connection would be the last leg of a route that could transport passengers from Houston to the Metroplex in as little as 90-minutes.
Dallas has expressed concerns that a proposed route would derail plans to renovate the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, and is asking for an economic impact study before lending support to the project.
Dallas-based Hunt Realty Investments, which owns the Reunion Tower, has also expressed concerns about the project’s impact on a $5 billion renovation of 22 acres around the tower announced in 2023.
The proposed route would travel above ground next to the existing railroad tracks before turning west just north of the Reunion Tower and running parallel the Interstate 30, according to a presentation at the May 13 meeting of the North-Central Texas Council of Government’s Regional Transportation Council.
However, the economic feasibility of the project must take into consideration the impact on the entire route, not just Dallas, Parker said in her statement.
“This is a regional decision that will require the stakeholders and elected officials to collaborate and solve complex problems for the advancement of our North Texas Region,” she said.
Parker noted the Metroplex is on track to become the third largest population center in the United States by 2030 while adding that a lot of that growth has centered in the region’s western half.
“As leaders, it is our responsibility to act with the visionary leadership needed for the soon-to-be third largest region in the nation,” she said.
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