FORT WORTH, TX — The City Council approved a resolution in support of four regional transit projects and committing funds to the projects. The city is partnering with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and Trinity Metro to advance the four regionally significant projects in the city limits.

Here is a rundown of the projects and the city’s role in each:

This project will reconstruct East Lancaster Avenue from Dottie Lynn Parkway to downtown as a multi-modal corridor that includes high-comfort pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, enhanced transit, broadband, and other “smart streets” features.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments intends to submit one or more federal grant applications on behalf of the city and region in support of TxDOT’s East Lancaster Corridor project. The project needs to be further developed to ensure the project is competitive. City, TxDOT, and NCTCOG staff are working to coordinate a unified planning and implementation process to ensure that the project is competitive for federal funding, based on community vision, and is delivered in a timely fashion. Once the process and timeline have been defined, the city and TxDOT will begin planning and engineering work this fall.

The city will be asked to contribute approximately $16.5 million, consisting of $6,430,160 in local funds being reallocated from the TEXRail Extension project, plus $10 million for reconstruction as part of the 2022 Bond Program. The project already has commitments of $40 million in other federal funds from the Regional Transportation Council and $10 million in state funds from TxDOT.

Trinity Metro’s TEXRail extension project will extend the existing commuter rail service 2.1 miles south from T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth to a new Near Southside station to be located at Mistletoe Boulevard between Jerome Street and behind Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center. The project is a necessary step to eventually extend the route to near Chisolm Trail Parkway.

The federal cost share of the project is made up of $71.4 million in funds from the Regional Transportation Council; $38.9 million in leftover funds from the initial TEXRail project to the airport; and $11.3 million in federal funds being reallocated from the Katy Lofts project. The Regional Transportation Council has also allocated the equivalent of $21.1 million in Transportation Development Credits for the project.

The bulk of the local match will be $48 million from Trinity Metro. The city will be asked to provide $7.16 million in local funding toward the project to match federal funds. City and Trinity Metro staff will be working to secure a donation of the Baylor Scott & White-owned land for the future Mistletoe Station.

The Regional Transportation Council is committing $26,474,000 in federal funds and the equivalent of $5,348,000 in Transportation Development Credits toward Trinity Metro’s new Trinity Lakes Trinity Railway Express Station and associated private development near the station.

The Regional Transportation Council committed more than $16 million to this project, which will reimburse transit riders using the Trinity Metro route in the I-35W managed lanes between downtown and Alliance if they arrive after the scheduled arrival time. There is not a financial commitment from the city in the project, but it is an innovative service that will increase the reliability of transit.