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By Sherelle BlackIn June the Fort Worth Transporta-

tion Authority, known as The T, received permission from the Federal Transit Administration to begin construction in July on TEX Rail.

TEX Rail is a 27-mile commuter rail line that will extend from downtown Fort Worth, through Colleyville and Grapevine, and into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The project, which has been in the

planning stages and a discussion piece among transportation entities and gov-ernments throughout Tarrant County since 2005, is expected to begin servic-ing passengers in late 2018.

Grapevine and Colleyville officials have opposing views on whether TEX Rail is a viable project.

Colleyville Mayor Richard Newton said he does not support the rail project because it does not make sense finan-cially, and he feels The T has not been

transparent about project details.“It’s a billion dollars just to build [TEX

Rail], and that’s not counting what it costs to operate it,” Newton said. “Contrast that with [the DFW Connector], which was also a billion-dollar project—but has huge advantages and a huge return on the money that was spent—and I can’t see the justification. Thousands and thousands of people every single day use [the DFW Connector] and it does won-ders for this area and nobody can debate the benefits of it, but a billion dollars for a project that maybe 8,000 people [per day] will use isn’t worth it.”

Packaged liquor on Nov. ballot in GrapevineBy Sherelle Black

Known for its annual wine festival as well as its breweries and wineries, Grapevine has become a popular place for residents and tourists looking to par-take in a glass of wine or beer. However, by as early as November, residents and visitors may be able to buy more than just beer and wine in the city.

Voters in a Nov. 8 local option elec-tion will decide whether to allow “the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption only,” which, if approved, would pave the way for liquor stores in Grapevine.

A petition for the ballot measure, which was submitted to the city May 27 by a political action committee, Grape-vine Citizens for Total Wine & More PAC, had 5,339 signatures, of which

4,590 signatures were veri-fied by the Tarrant County Elections Administration.

Grapevine City Council decided July 5 to send

See Liquor | 15

See TEX Rail | 12

Despite lack of federal funding, commuter project still on track to open in 2018, according to The T officials

TEX Rail moves full-steam ahead in July

Map not to scale

4 IMPACTSNow Open, Coming Soon & more

6 BUSINESS FEATUREC. Marie’s Sweets

7 DINING FEATUREBoi Na Braza

11 CALENDARA list of updating area events

Volume 6, Issue 5 | July 21-Aug. 17, 2016 communityimpact.com/socialGRAPEVINE | COLLEYVILLE | SOUTHLAKE EDITION

BALLOT LANGUAGE :“The legal sale of all alcoholic

beverages for off-premise consumption only.”

SEE INSIDE FOR MAP & TIMELINE

TEX RAILPROJECT Overview

Texas and Pacific

North Side

North Richland Hills/Lion Horse

North Richland Hills/Smithfield

Beach St./ Mercantile

Grapevine/ Main St.

DFW Airport Terminal B

HURST

BEDFORD IRVING

KELLER

COLLEYVILLE

GRAPEVINE

RICHLAND HILLSHALTOM

CITY

FORT WORTH

HASLET

EULESS

Intermodal Transportation Center

DFW Airport N.114

170

114

161

161

183

183

121360

360

635

820

35

30

287

287

377

TEX Rail is a 27-mile commuter rail project being developed by the Fort Worth Trans-portation Authority. The rail line will extend from downtown Fort Worth, through Grape-vine and Colleyville, and into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

DART Orange Line

TEX Rail station

TEX Rail

TRE & TEX Rail station

Trinity Railway ExpressExisting TRE station

Map key

Source: The Fort Worth Transportation Authority/Community Impact Newspaper

$1.034 BILLION

TOTAL COST:

AVERAGE COST per station:

$10.2 MILLION

PROJECTED COST OF OPERATION & MAINTENANCE IN 2018:$11.3 MILLION PER YEAR

CONSTRUCTION COST PER MILE:

$38.6 MILLION

OPENING DAY STATIONS: 9PASSENGER SERVICE expected to begin

IN LATE 2018 TOTAL CORRIDOR LENGTH: 26.8 MILES

TOTAL RAIL CAR COST: $115 MILLION

NOV. 8GRAPEVINE

L I QUOR ELECT ION

20 16

12 13

TEX RailContinued from | 1

GRAPEVINE TEX RAIL station

The city of Grapevine purchased 4 acres of property at the northeast corner of Main Street and Dallas Road to serve as the Grapevine TEX Rail station. Officials said they have plans to place transit-oriented development around the station. In May the city approved a 250-unit multifamily project, Aura Grapevine, that will contain a public dog park, retail and potentially a restaurant.

In contrast, the city of Grapevine is looking to capitalize on TEX Rail by creating economic development oppor-tunities around its future station, which will be located at the corner of Dallas Road and Main Street.

“You want the hustle and bustle; you want more people as it’s going to help the city continue to thrive,” Grapevine City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said. “[TEX Rail] can become something that either costs you money or makes you money, and the whole idea here is that the prox-imity [of the station] to Main Street will certainly help drive even more business to Main Street but also open up the whole Dallas Road corridor to develop-ment.”

Although Tarrant County has the Trinity Railroad Express, which is a commuter line that connects Fort Worth to Dallas and is also operated by The T, Bob Baulsir, vice president of railroads and procurement for The T, said “it just makes sense” to add a rail line in the northeast part of the county.

“Public transportation is a good thing for any growing community,” he said. “Most big employers won’t move to a city that doesn’t have a good transpor-tation system.”

The T projects TEX Rail will serve more than 8,000 daily riders at nine sta-tions by the end of the first year of oper-ation, with that number increasing to nearly 14,000 daily by 2035.

Financial hurdlesThe rail project, which will run along

the existing Cotton Belt Railroad line, will cost about $1 billion to construct and $11 million per year to operate and maintain, according to The T.

Although the FTA gave the green light to start construction on the rail project, The T has yet to receive approval from the United States Department of Trans-portation for a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the project. The agree-ment accounts for a vast majority of the federal funding needed to finish the project.

The project has, however, already secured about $500 million in local funding—a majority of which comes from Fort Worth and Grapevine sales

tax revenue. The city of Grapevine has contributed

more than $70 million in sales tax revenue since residents approved a 3/8 cent sales tax to fund the commuter rail in Novem-ber 2006.

Since Colleyville is not participating in the TEX Rail project, it does not con-tribute sales tax revenue.

State Sen. Konni Burton, R-Col-leyville, among other officials in Col-leyville, has been very vocal about her opposition to TEX Rail.

Burton has said if TEX Rail is not fully funded by the next legislative session she will likely make some effort to delay the project.

“One of the most pressing issues I have with TEX Rail is the citizens of

Tarrant County were never asked out-right if they wanted the rail line and were not given the opportunity to voice their opinion via a countywide vote,” she said. “Close to $540 million will be coming from the federal government, which is almost $20 trillion in debt. A rail line with a price tag of $1 billion in taxpayer money is not only outrageous, it is unethical because the taxpayers at all levels never OK’d such a project.”

Baulsir said to date a countywide vote has not been needed for any transporta-tion projects of this caliber.

“I would imagine that all of the cities that are contributing [to funding TEX Rail] took a vote on the rail already,” he said. “A majority of folks support this, or we wouldn’t have the funding to do this.”

Baulsir he expects the federal money will arrive by November.

“We don’t have the contract yet, but I suspect that [the FTA] is fairly confi-dent that we are going to get it, or they wouldn’t be telling us to start construc-tion,” he said.

If The T does not receive the federal grant by November, Baulsir said TEX Rail has enough funding to continue construction until April because the Regional Transportation Council voted in May to lend the project up to $80 mil-lion to ensure construction would con-tinue into next spring.

TEX Rail stations Although cities cannot control

whether TEX Rail will pass through

their cities because federal laws govern railroad tracks, cities do have the ability to decide if they want a station.

Colleyville City Council passed a res-olution at its May 17 meeting that pre-vents the city’s participation in the con-struction of any rail station within the city limits and states the city’s opposition to TEX Rail.

Newton said in 2009, Colleyville council members were debating about putting a station at John McCain Road and SH 26. Residents reacted by circu-lating a petition against a station. Instead of sending the issue to a public vote, the council worked with residents to pass a resolution banning a train station.

Newton said the original resolution had a five-year limit on it, which was why another resolution without limits was passed in May.

Baulsir said if Colleyville decided later to add a station—which Netwon said the city has no intention of doing—it would be possible.

In neighboring Grapevine, city offi-cials and planners are working on plans for not only a TEX Rail station, but also transit-oriented development around it.

Grapevine Economic Development Director Bob Farley said the city has acquired 4 acres of land at the corner of Dallas Road and Main to build a station.

He said the site will not be a typical train station; instead it will feature a small boutique hotel, an open courtyard, and retail and public space.

“Council didn’t want to have just a kiosk and a platform; they wanted to accommodate the traveler and see if they couldn’t use the city’s history to build another iconic destination along Main Street that people would want to see,” Farley said.

Although construction on the rail line will be underway this summer, Rumbe-low said construction on the station will

not begin until late this year or early next year.

Additionally, City Council approved a 250-unit multifamily project, Aura Grapevine, which will be located down the street from the future TEX Rail sta-tion on Dallas Road. The project will include a public dog park, retail space and possibly a restaurant. Construction on the project is expected to start in Sep-tember.

Colleyville’s economic argumentIn Colleyville where a majority of

the city’s revenue comes from property taxes, Newton said from a local eco-nomic standpoint, TEX Rail does not make sense.

“We’re a residential community, and we are never going to be an urban com-munity,” he said. “The citizens don’t want the character to change, so money means nothing to me. More money could come in, but if it changes the char-acter of Colleyville, I’m not interested. It’s not a fit for Colleyville.”

Baulsir said if Colleyville residents are worried about their home values declin-ing, they should not be because The T is not building a new rail line; instead it is replacing the tracks along the Cotton Belt line.

“[Property value] depends on where you are,” Baulsir said. “Obviously there

are increased property values when you are by a commuter rail station because you don’t have to drive to work, but I guess it depends on where you are and how you look at it.”

Colleyville real estate broker and Realtor Sophie Diaz said based on the information she has gathered so far, TEX Rail could have a negative effect on Colleyville home values.

“It seems only properties backing to the tracks may be affected, but it is too early to know,” Diaz said.

Newton said although Colleyville has differing opinions than neighboring cit-ies about the rail line, he has every inten-tion of having an amicable relationship with The T.

“We are not the enemy,” he said. “We are just taking a position and we will advocate for our position, but that’s not to say we aren’t going to work with [The T]. It may be a done deal, but it doesn’t let those of us off the hook that are in positions that can speak. We should speak up and ask legitimate questions that make you think.”

Mun

icip

al

Way

E. Nash St.

E. Dallas Rd.

S. D

oo

ley

St.

Jean St.

Berry S

t.

FUTURE TEX RAIL STATION

THE REC

GRAPEVINE CRAFT

BREWERYAURA

GRAPEVINE

Mai

n S

t.

Grapevine collects 2 cents of sales tax.

1¢ goes to the

general fund

0.5¢ funds the Crime

Control & Prevention District

0.375¢ goes to The T for

commuter rail

0.125¢ funds economic development

¢

In November 2006 Grapevine residents approved a 3/8 cent sales tax to fund TEX Rail.

TOTAL $73.165M

2007FISCAL YEAR

TEX

RAIL

SAL

ES T

AX C

ONTR

IBUT

IONS

$10M

$9M

$8M

$7M

$6M

$5M

$4M

$3M

$2M

$1M$0M

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016*

$494M

$122M

$115M

$113M

$92M

$70M$28M

Construction

Systems

Vehicles

Professional services

Right of way acquisitions

Contingency

Capitalized finance

TOTAL PROJECT

COST$1.034B

15.7%

13.2%

8.9%

4.5%

3.9%1.9%

48.3%

3.5%

0.2% Sales tax revenue

Local

Federal

Local partners/North Central

Texas Council of Governments

Existing fund balance

State funds

DFW Airport contributions

County bond proceeds

Federal Transit Administration’s

New Starts program

Congestion Mitigation Air

Quality program

Other federal sources

$7.9

75M

$7.2

58

M

$7.1

65M

$7.5

69M

$8.6

20

M

$8.8

29M

$9.2

23M

$4.7

33M

$7.7

68M

$4.0

25M

Grapevine’s contributionExpendituresFunding sources

About the TEX RAIL TRAIN

A back-of-seat work table similar to those found on a commercial plane

will be available for passengers.

QUIET CAR

Each train will have a restroom.

Bicycle racks will be available on

each train.

A USB outlet to charge devices will be

included.

Twenty-five percent of each rail car will be designated as a quiet car. No loud talking, music or distractions will be allowed in that section.

Each rail car will have a positive train control system. The system monitors and controls train movements to provide increased safe-ty and avoid accidents.

DAILY RIDERSHIP PROJECTIONS

2018: 9,094 passengers a day

2035: 13,698 passengers a day

SERVICE PLAN HOURS

A.M. PEAK 6-8:30 a.m.

MIDDAY 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

P.M. PEAK 4-6:30 p.m.

*EVENING 6:30-8 p.m.

WEEKENDS 9 a.m.-9 p.m.52 MINUTES to get from one end of the line to the other

42 PASSENGER trips a dayD

ALL

AS

DA

LLA

S

City sales taxes

POSITIVE TRAIN

CONTROL

Each train will have air conditioning and

heating.

The trains will be made so that no stairs are needed to board, allowing

easier access for the disabled.Tra

in a

men

itie

s

6 TRAINS in operation during peak hours

During peak times a train will arrive EVERY 20 MINUTES

PEAK TIMES

2 TRAINS operating on weekends, midday and evening hours

During nonpeak times and on the weekends a train will arrive EVERY 90 MINUTES

THREE freight trains a week to use rail line during nonpeak times

NONPEAK TIMES

* The T has plans to decrease that time to 60 minutes by 2030.

USBACCESSIBILITYWORK TABLES BIKE RACKS RESTROOMS

AURA GRAPEVINE

*FY16 does not end until September.

GRAPEVINE TEX RAIL STATION ELEMENTS:

925 MAIN APARTMENTS

• Small boutique hotel• Parking garage• Retail uses

• Public spaces• Outdoor courtyard

Sources: city of Grapevine/Community Impact Newspaper

Rend

erin

g co

urte

sy T

rinsi

c

Resi

dent

ial G

roup

Sources: city of Grapevine, Fort Worth Transportation Authority/Community Impact Newspaper

Source: Fort Worth Transportation Authority/ Community Impact Newspaper

Are you opposed to or in favor of TEX Rail?

Take the poll online at communityimpact.com/gcs-poll

TEMPERATURECONTROL

In 2015, The T signed a $106 million contract with Staadler Bussnang AG for the manufacture and delivery of eight diesel rail cars.

The T officials said the rail cars are significantly quieter and lower in profile than locomotive trains. One train seats 229 passengers with hand rails for standing passengers and can travel up to 59 mph. The vehicles are expected to arrive in January or February 2018.

Design by Jean Henric