Honkin' Mad

Calif. researcher brings new meaning to 'Shop 'Till We Drop' #fundingtransport

By Gordon Dickson
gdickson@star-telegram.com

LEIPZIG, Germany - Laura Schewel's idea of "Shop 'Till We Drop" has little to do with her own personal desire to go out and buy shoes or groceries.

Instead, the 29-year-old University of California at Berkeley graduate student is poring over mountains of data showing how much of motorists' time is spent driving to retail stores - and how much of the space on highways and streets is used up by trucks getting goods to the shelves.

On Thursday, Schewel was named winner of the 2013 Young Researcher of the Year Award at the International Transport Summit in Leipzig, Germany.

"Going shopping is a different behavior than going to work, and I think it's important to understand them together," she said.

Schewel's paper is titled "Shop 'Till We Drop: A History and Policy Analysis of Retail Goods Movement."

Her work involved reorganizing two sets of data from separate sources, and determining how much traffic on a typical day in the United States is caused by retail activity.

Schewel got the idea a couple of years ago after stumbling across a federal report showing that motorists reported more than 20 percent of their trips were for shopping - and the figure was nearly 30 percent, including dining.

To her, it seemed that more data should be collected on the topic, and that federal decision-makers ought to be taking those trips into account when deciding where to allocate resources.

In addition to traffic caused by the shoppers themselves, shipments of retail freight are completely different than other types of bulk freight shipments, she said. Yet the focus of freight data collection in the U.S. has been the longer distance shipments, especially those in which the goods are switched from one mode to another (i.e. train to truck), rather than the shorter and simpler retail freight shipments.

Schewel, who is pursing a doctorate degree at the Energy and Resources Group at UC-Berkeley, ultimately hopes her research leads to a reduction in greenhouse gases.

While working on her Ph.d, she has started a business called Street Light Data., which aims to use her data to help retailers and shippers figure out the best places to locate their businesses. The idea is to locate retail stores in areas where people don't have to drive so far to get to them, and to help shippers figure out how to move their goods with less impact on air quality and congestion.

Gordon Dickson, 817 390 7796
Twitter: @gdickson

Photo: Laura Schewel chats Thursday with Robert Letteney, U.S. Transportation Department deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, during the International Transport Forum.

54 nations agree to expand private development of toll roads, rail #fundingtransport

LEIPZIG, Germany - Ministers from 54 nations on Thursday opened the door to worldwide expanded private development of toll roads, rail lines and other projects.

It's a potential investment that could amount to several trillion dollars over the next decade or so, several officials said.
But the declaration of support for so-called public-private partnerships also raises many questions about whether corporations will yield too much control over public roads - or whether public entities could be exposed to financial risks in these agreements.

Still, supporters said the declaration approved by representatives of 54 countries - including the United States - during the annual International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany was a necessary step to ensure that countries could continue to battle congestion problems on streets and in villages across the globe and meet the needs of a growing and ever more mobile population.

"With both public budgets and private sector resources under constraint, government authorities and industry must together seek new ways of ensuring stable, long-term funding for the sector," a portion of the declaration read.

Norway Transport Minister Marit Arnstad, who is serving as 2013 president of the International Transport Forum, said during an open ministers' session that the declaration allows countries to "obtain private sector funding where appropriate."

"Today we should together secure a robust, sustainable funding for transportation infrastructure for our future," she said.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, motorists are already experiencing the expansion of road privatization. The North Tarrant Express project, a $2.5 billion job that includes expansion of Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 in Northeast Tarrant County, is being financed and managed by a private group that includes the U.S. office of Spain-based Cintra. That group also has reached an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to expand Interstate 35W from downtown Fort Worth to the Alliance area as part of its project - a move that kicks the value of the deal over the $3 billion mark.

But in return, the private company - known as NTE Mobility Partners, will get to keep tolls generated on those Tarrant County roads for 52 years.

A similar consortium of private companies is building LBJ Express on Interstate 635 in Dallas.

For the handful of global companies that already hold something of an expertise in private development of transportation projects, the approval of the declaration on Thursday signaled a potential windfall of trillions of dollars worldwide.

One of the largest such as companies, Australia-based MacQuarie Group Ltd., already manages $30 billion worth of tolls roads, sea ports, airports and other transportation assets. But David Fass, MacQuarie chief executive in Europe, Middle East and Africa, told forum attendees that was "little more than a drop in the bucket" compared to the $27 trillion that could be spent on infrastructure worldwide.

The money often comes from pension plans, equity investors and others who are willing to invest their dollars for a long-term return. It's an investment for people willing to park their dough for decades at a time.

Several transport ministers and other supporters noted that they'll have to use public-private partnerships carefully, to avoid losing the trust of voters and taxpayers. Although the concept of such partnerships - often called PPPs - has been around in Europe for nearly three decades, a handful of projects has spectacularly failed, raising questions about the public whether it's worthwhile to lease away a public asset such as a road to make up for a short-term lack of tax-supported transportation funding.

"Transport problems may be very different in different parts of the world, but lessons can be shared," said Jose Viegas of Portugal, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum.

The declaration also calls on leaders from the 54 nations to find more stable forms of funding for public-backed projects, and to adopt more strategic transportation planning efforts.

For public-private partnerships, leaders must to a better job explaining the potential liabilities to their respective citizens, and also undertake the efforts necessary to place a monetary value on roads and other transportation "assets" over several decades.

Gordon Dickson, 817 390 7796
Twitter: @gdickson.

Photo 1: David Fass, a chief executive at MacQuarie Group Ltd., addresses transportation ministers from 54 countries Thursday during the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany.

Photo 2: Robert Letteney, deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at the U.S. Transportation Department, represented the United States during an open ministers' panel Thursday at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany.
(Photos by Gordon Dickson/Star-Telegram).

U.S. and other countries missing chance to invest in roads, rails, jobs, a pair of respected economists say - #fundingtransport

LEIPZIG, Germany - Faced with tight budgets and political pressure, the United States and many other countries are missing on a chance to invest in transportation, economists said Wednesday.

"I think of freedom as important and, to me, freedom is the capacity to move around," Harvard University economist Amartya Sen told more than 1,000 people attending the first day of an International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany.

Sen, who in 1998 won a Nobel Prize in economic sciences, laid out a multi-pronged, 20-minute argument in favor of investing in roads, rail lines and other modes to help people move to and from their jobs, shopping and other tasks.
He briefly touted transportation as a proven path to prosperity for developing countries, and a tonic for bringing already developed yet stagnant economies out of recession.

But, noting that progress has been slow in many budget-weary countries, Sen said leaders from those nations need to take the time necessary to help residents determine "a public reasoning," a mutually-agreed path to better mobility.

John Micklethwait, editor in chief of The Economist, cited political pressures in many countries, where elected leaders are looking to tighten their belts, rather than invest in projects whose benefits won't be realized for years.
"If you look at the west in particular, you can make the case really rather strongly that we've not invested in this particular recession, in this time of need, in those projects as we expected to," Micklethwait said.
Micklethwait was particularly critical of the U.S., saying "Their infrastructure is lousy. Most of it was built 50 or 60 years ago. It's amazing that it's been only five years since that bridge collapsed in Minnesota, claiming 13 lives, and despite that America still has 70,000 bridges found to be structurally deficient."

Much of the discussion on this first day involved countries exploring alternatives to traditional, tax-supported transportation projects.

An emerging popular alternative is a type of funding known as a PPP - an acronym for public-private partnership. That's a bit of a geeky name, but Texans are familiar with the concept of inviting private developers to help pay for projects in return for allowing them to make a profit on them.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, private developers are being used to build North Tarrant Express, a $2.5 billion project that involves the overhaul of Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 and addition of toll lanes. Also, Texas officials have approved a plan to add the expansion of I-35W to that project, and to apply for a federal transportation infrastructure (TIFIA) loan to make it work.

But such partnerships can quickly fail, if public officials don't carefully negotiate contracts with developers to ensure that all parties involved understand who is financially responsible for all the risks.

For example, a project in Saudi Arabia known as the Saudi Land Bridge connecting the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea was initiated as a public-private partnership but the process was canceled because the parties couldn't agree on issues such as who would assume financial risk. The project is now being pursued as a publicly-funded project, said Frank Beckers of Symbulos Infrastucture Consultancy in Dubai.

Another project, South Bay in the San Diego area, went bankrupt, and one of the factors was that original traffic projections were too high, said Jonathan Gifford, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia. The project was backed by a TIFIA loan - which normally is the last of debts to be serviced on a project - but because of "springing lien" language in the agreement the federal loan was moved to the top of the repayment list during the bankruptcy process.
Gifford said the South Bay project, which is now owned by the San Diego Association of Governments "is a success."

"It's a success in the sense that those who put their money at risk absorbed the loss," he said. "Of course, those who put their money at risk do not consider it a success."

Despite those setbacks, public agencies are becoming smarter in laning how to negotiate public-private partnership agreements, several panelists said.

Photo 1: A look down from the top floor of the conference center in Leipzig, Germany, which is hosting the International Transport Forum.

Photo 2: Economist Amartya Sen of Harvard University greets attendees after speaking at the International Transport Forum Wednesday in Leipzig, Germany. (Photos by Gordon Dickson).

Guten Morgen Aus Berlin #fundingtransport

Good morning, USA!

I am in Berlin at the moment, and later this afternoon I will be traveling to the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany (about 80 miles away). I applied for and was awarded a media travel grant to cover the event, which is part of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

Despite what the headline of this blog post might imply, my German language skills are extremely limited, so it has been an interesting and quite fun journey the past couple of days getting around the host country for this event.

Anyway, for the rest of this week I hope to keep you updated on how the forum goes. The theme of the event is funding transport. It's a topic we grapple with constantly in the United States, where our will to pay taxes apparently doesn't match up to our desire to move about freely. Dozens of other countries are in the same boat, and I expect to hear a lot about it over the next 72 hours. I arrived a couple of days early, so that I would have time to explore Germany via its transit system, and I've been on everything from its high-speed rail lines to its U-Bahn and S-Bahn and tram services in inner-city Berlin. I hope to have a lot to say about those services over the next couple of days, too.

The photo above is of a train arriving at Berlin's Alexanderplatz station, taken from the fifth floor window of my room at a Motel One.

Anyway, if you have experience with transportation in Europe, especially Germany, or have any questions that I might be able to ask at this forum, please sent me a note to gdickson@star-telegram.com ...
G.

Closures detour Precinct Line drivers Saturday, Sunday

HURST — North- and southbound lanes of Precinct Line Road at the Texas 121/183 intersection will be closed from 10 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday and from 6 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday as construction crews set beams for the new Airport Freeway bridges over Precinct Line Road.

Northbound traffic will detour along Bedford Euless Road to Norwood Drive. Southbound traffic will detour along the westbound Texas 121/183 frontage road to Bedford Euless Road.

“The closure on Sunday begins earlier than our typical operation because we have nearly 40 beams to set for this portion of the new bridge,” said Lara Kohl, spokeswoman for Bluebonnet Contractors, the project’s construction manager.

The work is part of the $2.5 million North Tarrant Express project, which by mid-2015 will expand 13.5 miles of Northeast Loop 820 and Airport Freeway from Interstate 35W to Industrial Boulevard. Main lanes and frontage roads are being rebuilt and toll lanes are being added.

Not much new money for transportation, Texas officials say #fundingtransport

Efforts to find new revenue sources to pay for roads and other transportation projects are going nowhere fast, state officials say.

DART service to Arlington a step closer to reality #fundingtransport

A Dallas Area Rapid Transit committee has decided to press forward with a 24-month experimental bus service from the Trinity Railway Express CentrePort Station to the University of Texas at Arlington - despite concerns about Arlington's long-term commitment to transit.

Putting a road on a 'diet?' Fort Worth officials say Forest Park Blvd. needs to shape up, but some residents disagree

@gdickson

Fort Worth City Council members today will get an update on a plan to put Forest Park Boulevard on a "road diet." What's that mean? Well, as the nickname suggests, it involves trimming the number of main lanes on the road, and making it more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. But some commuters who use Forest Park Boulevard to get to and from downtown say the plan is all sizzle and no steak.

Construction worker rides bike-sharing cycle to #west7thbridge arch raising

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (the T) will be happy to notice that one of the workers on the West Seventh Street bridge project (bottom of picture) has rented a bicycle from the city's bike-sharing program. There's a rack nearby at Montgomery Plaza.

Cash America employees take snapshots of the #west7thbridge arch installation from their parking garage roof.

First West Seventh bridge arch going up today

Two cranes that will hoist the new #west7thbridge into place are counter-weighted with 200 tons of iron.

May 10, 2013

First arch of the new West Seventh Street bridge crawling its way into position. Will be mounted after 10 am. #west7thbridge (Photo atop Cash America parking garage) @gdickson

First 300-ton arch for new Fort Worth #west7thbridge moving today

@gdickson

A popular bridge connecting west Fort Worth to downtown is about to finally get its long-awaited makeover.

Workers on Tuesday began the slow process of moving 12 giant arches - each weighing a whopping 300 tons - into place for assembly of the new West Seventh Street bridge.

The new structure is scheduled to be completed before Thanksgiving - providing the city with an artistic new look for its transportation grid and its downtown skyline.

The first arch was scheduled to be moved Tuesday afternoon about 500 feet just from its construction site just east of the Target at Montgomery Plaza. The arch will be parked for approximately two and a half days near the intersection of West Seventh Street and Stayton Street, just across the road from Chuy's Mexican restaurant.

It will be positioned parallel to West Seventh Street, so that workers on Friday morning will be able to more easily roll it over to the bridge itself. Once the first arch is moved into place and secured on its supports, workers will move a second arch into place on Friday or Saturday, weather permitting, officials said.

The movement of the arches may be a reminder to motorists who normally use West Seventh Street to get to and from downtown Fort Worth probably that should get into the habit of using alternate routes over the next several months. On Friday and Saturday, the bridge over the Clear Fork Trinity River will be closed so that workers can move the first two of the 12 arches into place. During the rest of May, the remaining arches will be installed into their proper place with giant cranes along the river.

"The first one we're going to be quite methodical and careful," Lopez said. "But after the first one, the others should move quicker."

Then beginning sometime in June, the bridge will be entirely closed for up to 150 days so workers can demolish the old structure and put in place a new one.

Bus routes in west Fort Worth also are being rerouted during the construction of the new West Seventh Street bridge. Bus riders who normally use Route 2 to get to the Montgomery Plaza and West Seventh areas will instead use Route 10 - which is adding service frequency to accommodate the extra passengers.

Route 2 will still go to west Fort Worth, but will bypass West Seventh Street by using West Lancaster Avenue instead.

The T anticipates these schedules to be in place at least through the end of September, spokeswoman Joan Hunter said.

Photo 1: Workers prepare to move the first arch Tuesday in west Fort Worth (Gordon Dickson/Star-Telegram).

Photo 2: The vacant lot on West Lancaster Avenue where the first arch will remain until Friday morning's installation (Gordon Dickson/Star-Telegram).

Photo 3: Detours for the T's bus routes during West Seventh Street construction (Fort Worth Transportation Authority).

Fort Worth downtown aims to be more pedestrian friendly

Future downtown Fort Worth development should focus on improving connections to places such as the cultural district, according to a report by the Star-Telegram's Sandra Baker.

How should we pay for roads, rails going forward? #fundingtransport

How should we pay for roads, rails and other components of the United States' infrastructure going forward? I'll be attending the International Transport Forum May 22-24 in Leipzig, Germany, and the focus of the get-together is how the developed and developing nations of the world should pay for the improvements they need to ensure their people can get around (preferably without harming each country's natural resources).

In the U.S., motor fuels taxes clearly aren't sufficient to keep up with population and job growth (not at the current tax rates, at least). So there are other options, including raising taxes, building more toll roads, private development of roads, etc.

Or there's the do-nothing option - just let the infrastructure decay, and let our grandchildren deal with it.

Before I head over to Germany to cover this event, along with journalists from China, New Zealand and a couple dozen other places, I'd like to cobble together your thoughts on the broad topic. To join the conversation, post a comment to this blog or send an emal to gdickson@star-telegram.com.
Thanks!
@gdickson

Obama taps Charlotte mayor as new transportation secretary

President Obama will nominate Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to be the next transportation secretary. He would replace Ray LaHood, who is stepping down.

No more 820 on-ramp from Beach Street

FORT WORTH – The Beach Street on-ramp to westbound Northeast Loop 820 will close permanently at 9 p.m. Monday. Traffic will detour along the westbound Loop 820 frontage road and the northbound Interstate 35W frontage road to Western Center Boulevard.
The closure allows contractors to continue construction on Beach Street (north and south of Loop 820), the westbound Loop 820 frontage road and the new westbound Loop 820 main lanes.
This is part of the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express project to expand 13.5 miles of Loop 820 and Airport Freeway from I-35W to Industrial Boulevard. The project, scheduled for mid-2015 completion, will rebuild main lanes and frontage roads and add toll lanes.
See northtarrantexpress.com for other closures and project updates. -- Terry Evans

New bridge opens up part of Edwards Ranch that was previously off limits

As the Star-Telegram's Sandra Baker reports, a new Clearfork Main Street bridge spanning the Trinity River between Hulen Street and Bryant Irvin Road opens today. It provides a well-needed east-west connection,but also opens up a previously private part of the city for development.

Southeast Fort Worth advocates hope new transit center is more than a glorified bus stop

@gdickson

Beginning Thursday, four bus routes with nearly 800,000 combined riders annually will serve the new Sierra Vista Transit Center.

But southeast Fort Worth advocates hope the new facility at East Berry Street and Riverside Drive is much more than a glorified bus stop.

Instead, their goal is for the $500,000 transit center - paid for mostly with a federal grant - to become the centerpiece of a grander plan to convert the worn-down sector of Fort Worth into an urban village.

 "There's still a way to go on that, but with this transit center and opening of a Wal-Mart up the street we're starting to get that synergy going," Allen Smith, executive director of Southeast Fort Worth Inc., said Wednesday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new center. "There's a great need in this area."

The Berry/Riverside neighborhood is one of about 16 areas identified by city officials as an urban village. The long-term goal is to create transit and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with a mix of commercial and residential uses that is attractive to developers.

Berry/Riverside has a lot going for it - including its geography. It rests just below the Rolling Hills neighborhood, with Cobb Park nearby and plenty of vacant land available for whatever uses might be suitable - perhaps another grocery store, a pharmacy, clothing shop or restaurants and family entertainment.

A developer, Vertex Asset Partners, L.P., plans to redevelop the former Oak Brook Mall site across the street from the transit center into modernized retail development, according to information on the city's urban village page.

But it's also a neighborhood that more than its share of run-down buildings - and a reputation, deserved or not, for crime and vagrancy.

"We certainly have the challenge of bringing in small businesses that can stay," said Andre McEwing, board secretary of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also known as the T, and a long-time advocate for the area. "This community needs basic services."

But with Thursday's first official full day of service at the new Sierra Vista Transit Center, bringing foot traffic to the area shouldn't be a problem.

The area will be served by four bus routes, T president Dick Ruddell said. They include: Route 3 Riverside/TCC South campus; Route 5 Wichita/Glen Garden; Route 8 Riverside/Evans; and Route 24 Berry St.

Those four routes carry a combined 775,000 riders per year, T spokeswoman Joan Hunter said.

The bus transfers now to take place at the Sierra Vista Transit Center previously were handled at various stops along Riverside Drive, between Glen Garden and Berry, she said.

The plaza was partially funded by a $400,000 federal grant administered by the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Also, in 2006, Berry/Riverside urban village received an $823,571 federal grant to master plan the area and make street improvements along East Berry Street between Yuma and Sycamore Creek.

The Sierra Vista Transit Center will feature numerous pieces of public art, some of which are scheduled to be installed later in the year. The place also features a marker in memory of Monique Pegues, the T's longtime government affairs director who died unexpectedly in 2010.

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Bike-sharing: Changing Fort Worth's car culture two wheels at a time

@gdickson

Fort Worth's new bike-sharing program kicked off Monday, and cyclists are hoping it will gradually change the city's car culture - two wheels at a time.

"All of you resonate the message that there is an acceptance of bicycles as an alternative," Mike Brennan, Fort Worth Bike Sharing board chair, told about 300 volunteers who gathered Monday morning at Burnett Park in downtown Fort Worth.

After a few remarks by Brennan and other leaders, the cyclists from various riding clubs then hopped on the 300 shiny, red Trek touring bikes and rode them to the city's 28 new bike-sharing stations. Brennan noted the eclectic mix in the crowd - whose clubs include colorful names such as Bicycle Betties, Night Riders and Manly Bulge Bike Club.

"There's a group for every type of rider out there," Brennan said.

 Bicycles are available for rent at 28 stations mostly in downtown, the Near South Side, the cultural district and at Texas Christian University. More stations will be added during the summer, officials said.

Riders typically use a credit card to rent the bikes. Regular users can pay an $80 annual fee for unlimited use. Others can pay various rates that start at $8 per day, with additional fees for rides lasting more than 30 minutes.

The idea is to rent the bike at one location, and return it to a bike-sharing rack at the end of your trip.

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority - also known as the T - created a non-profit organization to run the program and accept donations.

The effort was boosted by a $1 million Federal Transit Administration grant awarded in July to set up the stations.

Among the volunteers who rode the bikes to their new stations was Don Koski, director of planning and project delivery for the Federal Transit Administration's Region 6 office in Fort Worth.

"We see bike-sharing as an extension of the transit system," Koski said. "There are people who ride the bus or the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) and use a bike for the final leg of their destination."

Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns predicted that the ready availability of bicycles will motivate people who work in the central part of the city to get out of their "dim, flourescent-lit rooms" and go for a ride.

"There's an incredible community spirit," Burns said, "and a focal point for us to get together."

Top photo: Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and about 300 helpers kick off Fort Worth's new bike-sharing program by riding bicycles to their racks.

 

What's your experience on Germany's trains?

@gdickson

During the Cold War, West Berlin residents who wanted to go from one end of their city to another could take subway trains that briefly cut through portions of East Berlin. The trains were allowed by the East German government to pass without stopping, although armed guards kept a close watch to ensure nobody got off the trains (or, perhaps more importantly, to ensure no East Germans got on). As the trains made their way through East Berlin, they would pass through trains stations that had been closed since the Berlin Wall was built. These train platforms - ratty, creepy and abandoned except for the presence of the guards - became known as "ghost stations." If you ever saw one of these stations up close, I would very much like to talk with you for a news story.

Please call 817 390 7796 or send an email to gdickson@star-telegram.com Whether you lived in East Berlin or West Berlin, or just visited, I would like to talk with you about your experiences. Please include a phone number or email address so I can get in touch with you.

Also, if you have experience riding the modern trains of reunified Germany, including the InterCity Express trains that today go 200 mph-plus, I would like to speak with you.

Again, please call 817 390 7796 or send an email to

gdickson@star-telegram.com ...

Last year, I was fortunate to attend the International Transport Forum, an annual event held in Leipzig, Germany featuring renowned goverment officials and transportation experts from around the world.

That trip introduced me to Germany's passenger rail system. (Some of those Cold War "ghost stations," by the way, have been dramatically rebuilt and are now hubs of modernity in Berlin.) Today, I'd like to do a story comparing the German experience to the United States' effort to develop a more effective rail system. I am planning a return trip to this year's International Transport Forum May 22-24 in Leipzig, and I hope to explore the issue of passenger rail more in depth while I'm there.

But before I go, I need your help ...

Please spread the word to anyone you know who spent time in East Berlin, West Berlin or more recently in reunified Berlin. I would very much like to talk.

- Gordon Dickson.

###

Photo: Berlin Wall Memorial

High-speed rail must serve DFW Airport, Tarrant County officials say

Tarrant County commissioners have stated their position on high-speed rail. They want the 220 mph bullet trains to stop at DFW Airport - not at downtown Dallas and Fort Worth. Commissioners stated their position in the strongest terms during a meeting Tuesday that was aptly covered by the Star-Telegram's county beat writer, Steve Campbell.

 

Texas rail director stepping down

Texas' first rail director is stepping down, nearly four years after state officials created the position to get the state up to speed with other regions of the United States in terms of passenger rail services.

Bill Glavin, who lives in Southlake but has spent most of his time residing in Austin since he took the rail director position in December 2009, confirmed Wednesday that he will be leaving the Texas Department of Transportation at the end of June.

Before entering public service, Glavin had decades of history with freight railroads, including Burlington Northern Railroad and North American RailNet.

"I turned 60. I qualify for railroad retirement," Glavin told the Star-Telegram in a phone interview, when asked why he is leaving the job. "Half my pay goes toward commuting between here and Austin and having ... to do all the things to make that work. (Retirement) just seems to make sense."

Glavin played a major role in preparing Texas for better passenger rail services that could be built in the next few years, including improved Amtrak service and a proposed high-speed rail line with 220 mph service from Houston to Dallas, rail supporters said.

"We've gone light years ahead in the past couple of years, compared to where we were the past couple of decades before that," said Peter LeCody, president of Texas Rail Advocates.

Under Glavin's watch, the state has made progress in a proposal to move Amtrak onto the Trinity Railway Express line in Dallas-Fort Worth, LeCody said. Also, a study of higher speed rail service from Oklahoma to Fort Worth and South Texas is under way.

State officials, the Union Pacific Railroad and Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway Co. also are working on a plan to improve massive freight congestion at the Tower 55, a notoriously busy rail intersection just southeast of downtown Fort Worth.

The state-owned South Orient Railroad corridor between Brownwood and San Angelo also has been improved, resulting in a dramatic increase in shipments in that corridor.

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Texans driving way too fast in work zones, officials say

@gdickson

One particularly heart-tugging image seen in some highway work zones is an orange sign bearing the message: "Please slow down. My dad works here."

But while that sign appeals for the safety of highway workers, in reality four of every five people killed in a work zone is a motorist.

"We want the public to crank up their awareness," said Lonny Haschel, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Haschel joined officials from the North Texas Tollway Authority and Texas Department of Transportation on Tuesday at a work zone site along Interstate 20. Speaking on a newly built bridge over the interstate, the group called for motorists to bear greater responsibility for their actions on the road.

"There is over $11 billion in construction in the North Texas area, with more on the way," said Brian Barth, Fort Worth deputy district engineer for the state transportation department. "Your daily commute to work and school is changing on a daily basis and we need every driver to stay alert."

Work zone fatalities have fallen 39 percent during the past decade, said Elizabeth Mow, tollway authority assistant executive director of infrastructure.

Still, last year 134 people were killed statewide in work zone crashes.

"We need the public's help to complete the picture," Mow said.

Speeding and driver inattention are the leading causes of work zone fatalities, Haschel said.

Distractions such as talking or texting on a mobile device are also a major problem, Barth said.

National Work Zone Safety Awareness week is this week. The groups chose Tuesday's site for their press conference because it is part of the Chisholm Trail Parkway project, a 28-mile toll road from downtown Fort Worth to Cleburne that is scheduled to open next year.

The Chisholm Trail Parkway project has created work zones across a swath of southwestern Tarrant County, crossing Interstate 30, I-20, Hulen Street and Texas 183 (Southwest Boulevard).

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Meadows roasted in final Texas Transportation Commission meeting

Fort Worth's Bill Meadows has been replaced on the Texas Transportation Commission, but his legacy of bringin' home the bacon to North Texas - and doin' it with a wide grin - lives on.

Don Davis vintage cars could net $14 million at auction - Check out that '67 Ferrari!

A 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS. A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 335 SL Gullwing. Don Davis has 64 immaculately preserved cars that he plans to sell at a one-day auction April 27. Each one tells its own slice of automotive history.

Open house showcases NTE expansion

Updates on the progress and immediate futures of the North Tarrant Express and the Interstate 35W reconstruction projects are the subjects of an open house hosted by the NTE team and the Texas Department of Transportation.
From 2 to 8 p.m. April 25 at the Radisson Hotel Fort Worth North (2540 Meacham Blvd.), there will be updated schematics and animations on, and project experts to talk about construction on Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 121/183.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Other displays will highlight plans for the I-35W reconstruction that should begin this year. Known as segments 3A and 3B, it’s a 10-mile project to expand North Freeway from downtown to U.S. 287, almost doubling the traffic capacity. It will rebuild existing lanes and add toll lanes.
Segment 3A is a $1.4 billion project from Interstate 30 to just south of the I-35W/Loop 820 interchange. Completion is expected in mid-2018.
Segment 3B is a $244 million effort from north of the interchange to U.S. 287. It should be finished in 2017.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price called the reconstruction of “the backbone of Fort Worth’s transportation system” a huge win for the city.
The $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express project to expand 13.5 miles of Loop 820 and Airport Freeway from I-35W to Industrial Boulevard is more than past the halfway mark to a mid-2015 completion.
Call 888-NTE-2015 or see northtarrantexpress.com for more information.
Source: North Tarrant Express Project

Fort Worth may back Cotton Belt commuter rail project - UPDATED

@gdickson

Updated: 5 p.m. to include comments from mayor and clarify city's position.

Fort Worth officials say they're willing to support the proposed private development of the Cotton Belt commuter rail line, if they can be assured that any federal funds awarded for the Tarrant County portion of the project aren't spent in the Dallas area.

More than a month after rejecting development of the Cotton Belt line, Fort Worth city officials on Tuesday will be asked to approve a compromise resolution in support of the project. The Cotton Belt as originally pitched would stretch from southwest Fort Worth to Plano - 62 miles in all.

But Fort Worth officials say their sole priority is not the entire 62 miles. Rather, their focus is on TEX Rail, a proposal to develop the 37 westernmost miles of track from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine and DFW Airport. In other words, they want to remain singularly focused on getting the Tarrant County portion of the line up and running by 2016.

"Our focus is on TEX Rail. Our emphasis is on getting to the airport," Fort Worth Councilman Jungus Jordan said. "We need to build a connection on the western side of the Metroplex."

Fort Worth isn't seeking private development of TEX Rail. Instead, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority - also known as the T - is applying for a federal new starts grant to cover up to half the estimated nearly $1 billion cost.

Mayor Betsy Price said that while she would be interested in learning about any plans for private development that could make public dollars stretch further, she doesn't want the Cotton Belt project to cause any further delays on the TEX Rail plan, which has been discussed since 2005.

Mainly, Price and other Fort Worth officials say that if TEX Rail is awarded federal money - possibly up to $480 million - they don't want any of the funds being transferred to other portions of the Cotton Belt project in the Dallas area.

To prevent that from happening, the resolution the council will consider Tuesday calls for the Cotton Belt to be developed in two separate agreements - one for the TEX Rail portion west of DFW Airport, and the other for the cities east of DFW Airport.

"The eastern part from the airport to Plano, they're going to do that on their own," Price said. "Our focus is in the TEX Rail project. We want the Cotton Belt proposal split into two pieces."

Supporters of the Cotton Belt project say it's important for other cities in the region to be connected to DFW, including Coppell, Carrollton, Richardson and Plano - even though Dallas Area Rapid Transit isn't expected to have funds for such expansion for at least 20 years.

That's where the private investment would come in.

Under a compromise resolution hashed out last week by Jordan, Price and officials from the T and North Central Texas Council of Governments, Fort Worth would support private development of the Cotton Belt line from DFW Airport east to Plano.

Fort Worth's support is considered crucial because Cotton Belt supporters are in Austin these days trying to get the state Legislature's permission to create a special tax district covering the 13 cities and three counties that would be connected by the project. Fort Worth's decision in February to reject the Cotton Belt project has those supporters worried that their bill won't get anywhere during the current legislative session.

An unidentified developer has notified the council of governments that it intends to make an unsolicited proposal to develop the Cotton Belt line. The details haven't been released, but generally the idea is that the developer would arrange the upfront financing for the project and would be repaid over many years by increased property values and transit-oriented development along the corridor.

Some Fort Worth officials say they don't need a private developer to provide financing on their side. If an area has potential for transit-oriented development, the city already has the power to create its own special tax district, Jordan said.

Grapevine has joined with Fort Worth on the TEX Rail project, and has its own transit-oriented development plan in that city's historical center.

 

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Two extra lanes opening on Hulen Street in Fort Worth

Good news for motorists in southwest Fort Worth: Two additional lanes opened Wednesday on Hulen Street, as officials continued to make progress on the Chisholm Trail Parkway project.

There are now three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes crossing the Hulen Street bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad's Davidson Yard, said Michael Rey, spokesman for the North Texas Tollway Authority.

The entire, six-lane bridge is scheduled to open during the summer - and a new walkway will be available for pedestrians or cyclists.

The additional lanes should provide lots of extra breathing room for motorists, who have dealt with long lines and narrow lanes on the Hulen Street bridge for two years.

"There is still some fencing, and the demolition of the older bridge, but it's a lot better than it has been," Rey said, "They're still doing some final column demolition."

Also re-opening are a ramp from southbound Hulen Street to westbound Vickery Boulevard, and the eastbound right lane of Vickery Boulevard.

Chisholm Trail Parkway is a planned 28-mile toll road from Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth to U.s. 67 in Cleburne. It is scheduled to open in 2014. The North Texas Tollway Authority is the lead agency on the project, and the Texas Department of Transportation is a partner.

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Stadler officials pitch rail cars to TEX Rail project in Dallas Fort Worth

@gdickson

Stadler Rail officials are in North Texas this week making their pitch to the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, which is planning to build a 37-mile TEX Rail commuter line from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine and DFW Airport.