DART plans to commit $50 million next year to replace 1.25 miles of light rail transit track on Pacific Ave. and Bryan Street in downtown Dallas.
DART cites rapid deterioration of the rail as the prime reason, exacerbated in part by the right-of-way's heavy use by riders of all four DART LRT lines. DART stressed that the route is still safe.
The 18-month project would affect DART service and downtown traffic, but officials seek to limit any inconvenience to riders. "We want to make sure that when it's done the work is completed with minimal customer impact," DART spokesman Morgan Lyons told Railway Age.
DART reportedly will replace the route's girder rail with "T" rail, the latter used throughout most of the DART system. "Part of [the reason for girder rail's use] is that in the early '90s, DART had no rail experience as an entity," DART Vice President of Maintenance Mike Hubbell told local media.