Rail construction upsetting some Denton residents

by Melissa Boughton of North Texas Daily

Construction for Denton County Transportation Authority’s A-train passenger rail began in July, and many residents who live near it are not happy about the changes.

The construction closed the pedestrian/bike path already in place between Duncan Street and Shady Oaks Drive for crews to work on the Morse Street Bridge and clear out vegetation.

Apartment employees and residents at Colorado Court said they were surprised to find the trees near their complex cut down and cleared.

“We were given a heads up that construction would be occurring at some point, but we didn’t know when,” Samantha Noel, a leasing agent for the complex, said. “They didn’t tell us that the trees were going to be taken down, we just kind of found out one day when we went outside and saw it.”

The rail line will connect Denton to Carrollton and eventually become part of a bigger transportation project.

Noel said the transportation authority sent a letter to the complex about a year ago explaining that it would be building a rail line through the trail nearby, but did not specify what would go on or when the construction would begin.

Kimberly Durnan, public information manager for the North Texas Rail Group, said all procedures were followed to let the public know of the construction.

“We placed some ads in the newspaper, city officials were aware of the construction, and we posted the information on the DCTA Web site and notified emergency officials,” she said.

Concerns among residents at Colorado Court include noise pollution, the loss of Internet connections, and the disappearance of the trees bordering the complex.

Alexandria Ferraris, a resident at Colorado Court and English literature senior, said she is constantly struggling to get her schoolwork done because the Internet connectivity at her apartment is always going in and out.

“It’s a problem because I’m doing a dual graduate-undergraduate program right now, so it makes it very hard for me to complete my assignments,” Ferraris said.

Wade Martin lives at Colorado Court and used to run on the pedestrian/bike path before the A-train passenger rail construction.

“I don’t really like to run on pavement, but there aren’t really a lot of options now,” he said. “You know it’s really hard to find a trail like this.”

The destruction of the landscape has also affected potential business for the complex. Several customers who were shown available apartments close to the construction did not return, Noel said.

“I don’t think we’ve had any move-outs because of it yet, but it is still kind of a work-in-progress,” she said.

The transportation authority told residents in the complex that there would be a sound barrier built between the complex and the A-train, Noel said.

Dee Leggett, vice president of communications planning at DCTA, said the company tries to address residents’ concerns as soon as possible.

“We have taken into consideration all of the nearby communities in all of our construction,” she said. “We are making sure that we minimize the impact and we are limiting the construction activity to daytime hours.”

The primary concerns to residents will be street closures, but the transportation authority is working closely with the city to make sure proper notification is made and that the streets are closed for as short a time as possible, Leggett said.

Leggett said other concerns involve the destruction of trees.

“It has killed the beauty of this residential area,” Ferraris said. “One of the reasons I moved here was because it had the nice trees and the path where you could walk.”

Construction for the entire A-train passenger rail is expected to end December 2010. The biggest impact that the Denton area will see during the construction period will be early next year when they start building the overpass over Loop 288, Leggett said.

“That is an eight to 12 month process and is a significant component of our project,” Leggett said.

The pedestrian/bike path that is currently under construction will be replaced east of the rail line.

To stay informed about the A-train construction and closures, residents can visit www.dcta.net.