Thursday, June 19, 2008

Streetcars could be part of Fort Worth’s future

By Kevin Buchanan of West and Clear

While Fort Worth has made great steps forward on heavier rail systems, first with the Trinity Railway Express and now with the upcoming Southwest-to-Northeast Line, those systems are primarily concerned with moving across longer city-to-city type distances. What’s been missing is a proposal to do something greater for central city urban mobility, something beyond The T’s little-used (and in some ways rather lackluster) bus system.

Until now.

For several months now, a proposal has been working its way through the city’s ether to bring back Fort Worth’s streetcar system, silenced long ago and replaced with the bus. Decades ago, Fort Worth had one of the finest streetcar systems in the entire country, with routes linking downtown to many dense, walkable “streetcar suburbs” like the Magnolia/Fairmount/Ryan Place area, the west side, and places like the Stockyards. Now, with Fort Worth witnessing the success that modern streetcar systems are having in places like Portland, work is underway on returning these central city circulator vehicles to the neighborhoods around downtown.

A rough draft proposal was created by the Fort Worth Central City Redevelopment Committee and presented to the city council. This committee, made up of citizens, planners, and developers, recommended to the council that the modern streetcar system would be a crucial component of a broader city-wide transit system that is beginning to take shape as the city’s population skyrockets and central city redevelopment intensifies. We’ve been making a lot of progress towards a fantastic longer-distance heavier rail system with the TRE and SW2NE, but we’ve been lacking in a real efficient and popular central city transit system that would serve central city users, attract new development, and attract the sort of up-and-coming young professionals who want their potential home city to have a serious transit system. The modern streetcar would serve this role.

It’s important to clarify what’s being discussed here. This is not, as it is sometimes called, a “light rail” system; at least, not in the same vein as a system like DART’s trains, Portland’s MAX, or Houston’s light rail. Those systems use heavier trains and run in dedicated right-of-ways, requiring significantly higher costs and timeframes to build and requiring their own dedicated land in many cases. Fort Worth’s proposed system is a genuine streetcar system, running on-street. It’s quicker and cheaper to build, and in this case and for this purpose, a more appropriate design. This isn’t being designed to travel the long distances a DART train travels, and its nimble design will allow it to get into neighborhoods easily and effectively.

Nor is this an old-fashioned vintage streetcar system using historic hardware, like the McKinney Avenue streetcar in Uptown Dallas. This system would use the same sort of modern, fully climate controlled, comfortable, and fast hardware used by cities like Portland for its streetcar linking downtown, the Pearl District, and the South Waterfront. They’re quick, smooth-riding, and very comfortable.

Yesterday, Dana Burghdoff of the city’s Planning and Development Department gave a presentation to the city council on the proposal. It is now planned that the council and the mayor will form a committee to study how best to build and fund the system, and what the first routes should be. This committee will be 15 people strong, with 8 appointed by the council and 7 by the mayor. Council member Joel Burns is in strong support of the proposal, and (surprisingly) even the notorious Chuck Silcox has said he supports the project.

While we have a working bus system and plans for more commuter lines on existing freight rail corridors to connect cities within the region, more attention must be given to a modern, reliable, appealing transit system that moves residents, workers, and visitors around within the city. In the late ’90s, we looked at a modern streetcar system once before, but approval for federal funds was uncertain and the project was shelved in favor of commuter rail. Back then, Fort Worth was less dense and gas was $1.50 a gallon.

Times have changed, though. High density, mixed-use urban developments are underway within all of the areas of the proposed streetcar system. Trinity Bluff, Magnolia Green, SoSeven, Texas & Pacific Lofts, Museum Place, West 7th, The Tower, Evans & Rosedale, Montgomery Plaza, the GrandMarc at TCU, Trinity Uptown, Pecan Place - most of these weren’t even on the drawing board when the streetcar system was originally studied. Nor was there the significant influx into old, dense central city neighborhoods like Fairmount that we’re seeing now. Dramatically higher gas prices and instability in the Middle East, combined with increasing concerns about “peak oil” and our future being dependent on gas, have opened people’s eyes to the possibility - some would say the likelihood - that our future will involve more than just the automobile. With greater amounts of people wanting to live in an urban environment to reduce or eliminate their dependency on the car, cities are in need of upgraded transit systems if they wish to remain competitive.

Streetcars attract higher ridership than buses - in some cases much higher. Portland reports ridership 700 percent higher on its streetcar than on its old bus routes. Significantly, they attract a much greater amount of “choice riders” - people who could drive but choose to take transit. Streetcars are easier to get in and out of than buses, they don’t lurch in and out of traffic thanks to their fixed guide way, they are less threatening to pedestrians, they’re quieter, they don’t smell of exhaust, they channel and stimulate development, and lead to increased property values. They attract more riders and services than buses - potential riders see the rails in the pavement and know a streetcar will be coming, whereas bus riders need a schedule and route map.

Streetcars also attract development. From 2001 to 2005, over $2.3 billion in new development occurred in Portland’s Pearl District around the streetcar line. Developers often contribute to the systems, as they are significant draws to the neighborhood. In the Pearl District, 7,248 housing units have been constructed, 25 percent of them affordable, enabling Portland to achieve its 20-year housing goal in just seven years. Streetcars promote street life, serve as image-makers for their neighborhoods, and provide an amenity and attraction.

Fort Worth’s streetcar system, as envisioned in the rough draft, would eventually feature several lines throughout the central city. Stops would be every 1/2 mile with streetcars arriving every 15 minutes at each stop. Like buses, they could skip stops if nobody was waiting or wanted to get out. They can also change upcoming traffic signals (like fire trucks can) to enable smoother flow.

One potential route would depart the Intermodal Transportation Center downtown and head west out 7th Street. Upon reaching Montgomery, the streetcar would turn left and head south down Montgomery to Harley, taking another left and going through the Will Rogers center. Heading briefly north on University, the streetcar would then veer off through Farrington Field and then up Currie to 7th, hanging a right and then back through downtown to the ITC. This line would serve the museums and new developments in the Cultural District and could easily be extended later down Camp Bowie to Ridglea Village.

Another route would depart the ITC and cross Lancaster, heading south down Hemphill through the Near Southside. Upon reaching Rosedale, the line would split. On line could head east down Rosedale through Evans/Rosedale out to Texas Wesleyan.

The other would head west down either Rosedale or Magnolia to 8th Avenue, and hang a left. Heading south down 8th Avenue, the streetcar would pass through Fairmount and Ryan Place before hanging right on Berry. Heading west on Berry, the streetcar would pass through TCU and hang a left on University. The streetcar would then head south on University to Bluebonnet Circle, round the circle, and head back the same route to downtown. Later on, it could easily be envisioned that a link up University between this line and the Cultural District line could be built.

Another route would leave the ITC and head through downtown and up North Main, crossing through what will be the Trinity Uptown district, through the Mercado district, and into the Stockyards. It would circle through the Stockyard and then head back into downtown.

Still another route would see the streetcar leave the ITC and head up through downtown and hang a right on Belknap. It would travel northeast to the Six Points neighborhood, loop around Race Street, and then head back downtown via Belknap.

Here’s a map I’ve made showing some of these proposed routes:

The streetcar committee should be forming in the not-too-distant future, and a final report is likely before the end of the year. The streetcar proposal is getting greater and greater support from both citizens and city officials. As a part of Fort Worth’s transit toolbox, it would tie together our regional commuter rail and buses into a fully realized transit system, giving Fort Worth a base to build on as our city rapidly grows.

Pegasus News content partner - West and Clear

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• Politics and Government > City Government > Fort Worth
• Transportation

Comments

James Scott Verified

Sounds like a nice proposal - good to see this kind of forward thinking in our neighbors to the west. (Hello Arlington - you learning anything from this???)

5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rick Yost Verified

I agree Scott.
But I'll bet they didn't even think about a public online poll to name it. You have to admit, when it comes to forward thinking, Dallas has Ft. Worth beat!

5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Robert Couchman Verified

I think Ft Worth will willingly abdicate to Dallas on the polling idea. On the other hand, maybe we ought to give them a few pointers on how to do it right....who knows maybe we might ought to call it the Chavez trolley?

5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

12ozfred Anonymous

I agree Rick, Dallas is way ahead of Fort Worth.

5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )