CONGRESSWOMAN JOHNSON TO ANNOUNCE MILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO IMPROVE DOWNTOWN MOBILITY

Washington, DC (Thursday, July 8, 2010) – Dallas, Texas will soon have additional streetcars thanks to the Federal Transit Administration’s Urban Circulator Grant Program. Congresswoman Johnson and other officials will announce the $4.9 million grant to the 30th Congressional District at a press conference on Monday, July 12, 2010 (media advisory forthcoming).

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority (DART) will distribute the money that will be used towards building a 0.65-mile urban streetcar track extension to an existing system. This project will link the current McKinney Trolley to the existing DART light rail St. Paul station and to the McKinney Trolley Olive Street extension in the heart of downtown Dallas. The connection to the Olive Street extension would form an entire reversing loop for the trolley, making operations safer and more efficient, while connecting downtown destinations such as the Dallas museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center to Uptown Dallas.

“These funds will help residents interconnect our existing transportation services and allow better access to downtown Dallas,” said Congresswoman Johnson.

The Urban Circulator Program, which is a part of the Administration’s Livability Initiative, was selected on a competitive basis through a new program announced last year.


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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.