The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board approved a two-year contract with Cherokee Coatings, LLC to paint a portion of the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) fleet, and approved interlocal agreements to fund street repair projects for four additional service area cities.
Extreme heat and extended exposure to the Texas sun causes the paint to fade and crack, making the TRE vehicles look worn and unkempt between their scheduled overhauls. The allocation of the fleet to be painted consists of 23 vehicles: five locomotives, five cab cars and 13 coach cars. The Grove, Oklahoma contractor will install a mobile paint booth at TRE's equipment maintenance facility in Irving and paint the vehicles on-site. They expect it will take an estimated 12 to 14 days to repair any rusted areas and paint each car. The TRE is a cooperative service provided by DART and Trinity Metro in Fort Worth. The agreement now goes to their board for final approval on Jan. 27.
Street repairs
Board members voted unanimously to approve the funding for Addison, Irving, Rowlett and University Park.
DART's Street Repair Policy was approved in 1994 to assist service area cities with needed repairs. That policy was amended in 1997 to develop a street repair process to select projects for consideration based on budgets and DART's 20-Year Financial Plan.
The board is responsible for allocating funds from the street repair program to cooperate with service area cities to accomplish needed repairs. Staff must determine the projects are consistent with the program and directly benefit the DART bus system. Funding and projects recently approved include:
- Addison: $441,519 to assist in funding street repair improvements on Belt Line Road between Marsh Lane and Midway Road, including completing sidewalk gaps and adding additional bus shelters at select DART stops along the corridor. When complete, all bus stops will include seating, accessible paving and trash receptacles.
- Irving: $750,261 to assist in funding improvements on streets where Route 501 operates between the Downtown Irving TRE (Trinity Railway Express) Station and the Irving Convention Center Station.
- Rowlett: $54,274 to reimburse for expenditures to replace approximately 220 feet of Industrial Street in front of the DART Rowlett Station Park and Ride area.
- University Park: $137,669 to reimburse expenditures for three traffic signals including Preston Road at Centenary Drive, Preston Road at Villanova Street and Hillcrest Avenue at Caruth Boulevard.
