Dallas’ Coombs Creek and SoPac trails may soon get a welcome boost to their coffers, provided the North Central Texas Council of Governments takes its own advice. The two trails are the highest-ranked Dallas-area projects that applied for funding from the council last fall, outshining similar projects in Frisco, Lancaster, Terrell, and other area cities.
Back in September, the Texas Department of Transportation issued a $70 million call for projects, utilizing remaining Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users funds; the Dallas-Fort Worth region was awarded about $13 million to divvy out. Applications were due to TxDOT in November, and staff members have been running the projects through their evaluation and scoring methodologies since. Additional funding for seven Dallas-area projects (and six Fort Worth-area projects) has been recommended; NCTCOG received 37 applications totaling $47 million in requested funding. In order of their NCTCOG rankings:
– Coombs Creek Trail extension, $2 million (North Oak Cliff area)
– VeloWay/ SoPac Trail, Phase 4A, $3 million (White Rock Lake area)
– on-street bicycle treatments, City of McKinney, $200,000
– Three Cities Trail, City of Frisco, $754,000
– Chapparal Trail completion, City of Farmersville, $250,000
– Phase Three of the A-Train Rail Trail, submitted by the Denton County Transportation Authority, $2 million
– Evers Park Bridge and Trail, Denton, $420,000
City Councilman Scott Griggs has consistently pushed for Coombs Creek Trail funding, money that would extend the trail from its current end-point west of Beckley Avenue to a proposed trail along the Trinity. The SoPac Trail received $2 million in 2012 bond funding from Dallas last fall; construction is expected to begin next year. The Council’s Regional Transportation Council (Redundant? Yes.) will take up the recommendations on Thursday at a meeting at Six Flags. A win on all counts.
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