The New Year's status of DCTA's A-Train.
Construction of the A-Train 21 mile rail corridor that will connect Carrollton and Denton is proceeding at full throttle throughout the county. All the crossings in Carrollton, Hickory Creek, Lake Dallas, and Corinth have been built. The only ones left are in Denton, which include Lakeview, Mayhill/Colorado, Shady Oaks, Morse, Roberson, Prairie, and Sycamore. These crossings should be complete by early spring.
All the bridges south of Lake Lewisville have been completed, and construction of the bridge over Loop 288 has been completed in Denton. All remaining bridges should be complete by late February.
The track currently runs from Frankford Road in Carrollton to Quail Run in Corinth. The remaining track from Corinth to Denton will be finished by late April, allowing the months of May and June to be used for extensive testing the track and signals before beginning revenue operations.
Much of the work has been performed on each of the five stations, most notably with the completion of the Hebron station. At the Highland Village/Lake Lewisville station, the canopies have been erected and the concrete work for the park&ride is complete. The platform construction is still in progress. The stations in Denton will be the last to be completed, which is scheduled for this summer (June).
Construction has begun on the Operation and Maintenance Facility in Lewisville, with crews currently clearing and grading the property.
~ Additional personal comments ~
Who would believe that a 21 mile corridor, using 25 miles of newly laid track, plus over 8 miles of a parallel concrete paved bike trail, could be built in Texas without any State or Federal funds? All $314 Million of this trail and rail project has come from local funds, based on tax resources of a county with just 658,000 in population.
