The Following is an excerpt from the Colleyville Courier:
Wednesday, Jun. 03, 2009
Lack of Transportation Funding Won’t Stop Train
By Scott Price
"The Texas Legislature scrapped the plan to allow local option elections to fund transportation projects, but the change will have little impact on the overall plan for the commuter rail that will run from Fort Worth to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, according to the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.
"The T will continue on its original plan to begin operations in 2013," said Joan Hunter, Fort Worth Transportation Authority spokeswoman.
Hunter said The T will apply for federal funding in the fall, with the hopes that the federal government will provide a matching grant of half the cost of the commuter rail plan through Colleyville and Grapevine.
The plan to allow local option elections to consider ways to fund road and rail projects was taken out by the Texas Legislature, and their session ended June 1. The plan would have enabled county commissioners to call an election and allow the voters to consider options such as a gasoline tax, a driver’s license fee or a automobile registration fee to fund transportation projects."
1. The T's plan to continue building up the Cottonbelt rail line without commuter operations funding suggests the T's real motivation is something other than commuter rail: it appears that they are upgrading the tracks to increase freight operations.
2. After spending half-a-billion dollars on making the Cottonbelt rail line FRA compliant, does anyone believe that this line -- connected to the busiest rail yard in America -- will only run two 20-car freight trains a day through our town? Just on the first day, maybe....
We want to thank the following representatives for helping to stop the bill to allow legislatures to increase taxes, subject to voter approval, (referred to as local option taxes) to expand rail:
Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth
Rep. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills
Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound.
Official Petition and Explanation of Ordinance and Resolution
We, Citizens Against Rail Station (CARS) have finished an official paper petition that will put legislation on the city election ballot. We needed 500 signatures and collected just under 700 in about 3 weeks time. We urgently need your vote on this issue when it reaches the election ballot. Below is a summary of our legislation.
Fact: On February 3rd 2009, Colleyville City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging the Texas Legislature to raise our taxes to expand freight and passenger rail in our area.
Fact: The Regional Transportation Council's plan includes construction of a 20 mile diesel-powered heavy freight and rail system between Ft. Worth and Grapevine, 8 miles of it through residential areas.
Fact: The 2008 Environmental Impact Study shows that building this rail line will actually increase road congestion in Colleyville and surrounding cities. The proposed rail line crosses city streets along Hwy. 26 with no under-or over-passes, thus closing the road with the passage of every train - about 66 passenger trains per day (plus an undisclosed number of heavy freight trains). The 66 trains per day alone is the equivalent of closing each of these roads a total of 1-2 hours every day.
Citizens Against Rail Station (CARS) has drafted two legislative proposals:
First: an ORDINANCE that will:
Prohibit the construction of a rail station in Colleyville and provide for the lowering of the rail bed at Colleyville's 3 rail crossings to prevent traffic congestion.
Second: A RESOLUTION that will:
Rescind the city council's resolution urging new taxes for regional rail expansion. It also: Urges the adoption of light electric commuter rail to move passengers and prohibit freight from passing through our residential areas.
View the complete legislation.
This legislation is critical to protecting Colleyville homeowner property values throughout the city; without it, every home value will be negatively impacted by the increase in trains, especially those carrying freight (which is currently prohibited), and increased traffic congestion throughout our city. Heavy freight trains can carry dangerous cargo, be over a mile long and take up to 10 minutes to pass an intersection.
Online voter registration: <http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqvr.shtml>
CONTACT US: help@stoptrain.net
Here are the answers to some of your questions and concerns:
1. "The city council does not, nor ever wanted a station." Not so. Five months ago, a Colleyville Commuter Rail Citizen Committee voted to support building a station in our city. No one on the city council spoke out against that vote and in fact, the council has never called for a vote on the subject. In May, the TRE informed us that "the status of a Colleyville station has not changed... a 'potential future' rail station in the city." Obviously, our city council has not told the TRE that we are against a station. The Star-Telegram reported "four of seven city council members say they oppose construction of a train station in their city, breaking months of silence." We believe it was our petition that forced the council to break their silence. Yet even now, they resist voting to make their opposition to the station the official position of Colleyville.
2. "The cost of the road crossings will be astronomical.". Not true. There are 56 grade separation projects in Texas today and not one comes even close to the projections the council quoted. We asked for three simple overpasses and the council quoted a 3-mile long tunnel more than 100 times the cost of what we actually requested.
The following is from our internet petition:
We, as citizens of Colleyville, are extremely concerned about the proposed train station at Hwy 26 and John McCain due to the increase in Crime, Taxes, Traffic, Pollution, and Noise and the decrease in property values that will likely result.
Inner city gangs and criminals would have easy access to our neighborhoods at our expense.
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-08-20/news/out-of-control-shoplifting-at-the-st-louis-galleria-violent-attacks-in-the-delmar-loop-is-metrolink-a-vehicle-for-crime
By the T's own studies, very few Colleyville residents will ride the train. Our tax money will pay for something primarily used by people from surrounding cities. Colleyville citizens who want to take the train can drive 4 miles north to the Grapevine train station or go to the N. Richland Hills station.
Here is how to contact City Council members and other key decision makers:
*Mayor David Kelly
The Colleyville train station will produce NO REVENUE. It will be an ongoing expense of an estimated $1.4 million per year to Colleyville taxpayers. This is more than Colleyville plans to spend on roads. The T also expects Colleyville taxpayers to provide bus service for surrounding cities.
There is already talk of widening of our city streets to handle the increased traffic. This will result in the loss of many of our mature trees and waste even more of our tax dollars.
There is also talk of building apartments on Hwy 26 at John McCain to boost ridership on the train. We do not need this at an already congested intersection. Apartments have never been allowed in Colleyville and many citizens still do not want them in our city.
Time is running out. The train station is going to happen if citizens do not voice their opposition. This will impact our quality of life for years to come.
Please vote on this issue when it is on the ballot.
Acting now will help keep our city safe and help prevent tax increases.
Here is how to contact City Council members and other key decision makers:
These are the 10 citizen rail committee members who are IN FAVOR of a train station in Colleyville. There are six more members who are opposed to a train station.
A list of all subcommittee members, including those against the station, can be found at the city's website: colleyville.com.
Responses from Citizen Rail Committee Members and link to the City's website
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
http://cbs11tv.com/local/DART.DART.rail.2.1032205.html
| Linda Baker 4900 Behrens Road H: 817.545.6898 choyawon@aol.com John Paul Burnett 601 Beverly Drive H: 817.281.1929 W: 214.755.3524 jburnett@ups.com |
Clif Davis 205 Adams Court H: 817.788.2255 W: 214.920.8003 F: 214.638.0447 clifdavis@hntb.com John Gooding 1007 Hidden Oaks Court H: 817.503.2408 comrailcom@gmail.com |
David Grimes 6610 Emerald Drive H: 817.424.3327 W: 972.302.7228 dgrimes001@yahoo.com Joyce Hammill 6307 Edinburgh Drive H: 817.481.6337 joycehammill@tx.rr.com |
Keath Hance 6504 Cutter Ridge Court W: 214.217.3001 M: 214.478.1600 khance@mcrowd.com John Leeper 7401 Pebble Hill Drive H: 817.421.8974 W: 817.798.8926 jleeper@verizon.net |
Fred Mills 5400 Linden Court H: 817.545.6862 M: 817.320.6862 fred-mariemills@tx.rr.com Paul Vigiletti 604 Summertree Court H: 817.485.7417 M: 817.689.4475 paubervig@tx.rr.com |
1. Cato article "Does Rail Transit Save Energy and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?" http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9325
2. "Light-Rail Systems are a False Promise" http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9644, This article points out that the Chicago system is ready to collapse and San Jose's light rail and others are taking money away from buses and are not delivering the promises. Specifically, they often use more energy per passenger mile than an SUV.
3. Hazardous cargo raises safety concerns The following article by Jeff Claassen was posted on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram website on February 7.)
4. Rails Won't Save America http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9703
5. THE HARVARD STUDY
The bankrupt US passenger railroads were taken over by the government in 1971. The Amtrak deficit has continued to increase ever since. Yet we still build more trains in attempts to alleviate our traffic problems. Harvard University recently released a comprehensive study that analyzed the performance of more than a dozen light rail systems built in the United States in the last twenty years. None of them were financially successful, and none of them even came close to achieving the riderships they had promised. Worst of all, there were very few light rail riders that were new transit riders. Three quarters of the customers were former bus riders, and many of the bus companies then went out of business. None of these expensive light-rail systems had any measurable effect upon the traffic congestion. Don't those who still propose more "light" or conventional rail systems read?
The above is an excerpt from "The Future of Transportation". The link below has what they believe to be the future of transportation, at the end of the article.
6. Dart Rails Plagued By Juvenile Crime
By Todd Bensman and Robert Riggs
CBS-11 News
7. Transportation Policy: Getting the Facts Straight December 3, 2008
by Wendell Cox and Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
8. Neighbors Oppose DART White Rock Trail Walkway
9. Study Suggests Trains Can Be Worse For Climate Than Air Travel.
Daily Launch |
New Scientist (6/8, Brahic) reported that "A new study compares the 'full life-cycle' emissions generated by 11 different modes of transportation in the US," and "unlike previous studies on transport emissions, Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath of the University of California, Berkeley, looked beyond what is emitted by different types of car, train, bus or plane while their engines are running and includes emissions from building and maintaining the vehicles and their infrastructure, as well as generating the fuel to run them." The study found that "including these additional sources of pollution more than doubles the greenhouse gas emissions of train travel." Meanwhile, "in comparison to cars on roads and trains on tracks, air travel requires little infrastructure. As a result, full life-cycle emissions are between 10 and 20 per cent higher than 'tailpipe' emissions."
This is a photo of the N. Richland Hills station on the Ts rail line.
We will be losing many of our city's mature trees for this station.