Dallas residents voice concerns to DART officials about new line
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - DART hosted a meeting to discuss the Silver Line Regional Rail Project on Tuesday, something people in North Dallas have been talking about for years. Now, the topic continues after construction started and significantly altered traffic flow.
"We were lied to, we thought they were going to be the smaller DART trains but I understand now they're going to be the big ones like they have for the TRE Express," resident Ann Gross said. "They're going to be rumbling through our neighborhoods, I'm going to hear it if they're blowing their whistles in the middle of the night."
Many of the people attending the project meeting said they were present to voice their concerns.
"I'm scared that people are going to get killed," Gross said.
"The main concern is safety," resident Dawn Coates said. "There's some things that DART had promised that seems like they're not going to be able to live up to, or they're choosing not to live up to, and that's a big concern."
Since construction began last month, the project has Hillcrest Road down to one lane in each direction and at times, shut down completely.
There's also concerns because this construction is near a police and fire station.
"When you have DART trains coming through, you can have a 35 to 45 second delay and if it's my life, I'd like to have it come faster," Coates said.
Dallas City Council member Cara Mendelsohn was also at the meeting.
"Sadly I'm not hopeful," Mendelsohn said. "My role I think has switched from advocate to trying to enforce the existing agreements that are in place and letting affected homeowners know that they should probably get an attorney."
Mendelsohn has been critical of the project. She said she's not happy with the level of communication DART has had with the community.
"The community is not happy with the level of communication and most importantly the feedback and input that the community has given has not been received in a manner that means they've made adjustments to the plan," Mendelsohn said.
DART had spokespeople at the meeting, and they told CBS 11 they've been making sure everyone has access to all the updates on this project and that they hear everyone's concerns.
"We have a very large safety program with the schools but also we're working very closely with the Dallas Fire Department, Dallas Police Department and local residents to make sure anything we do as construction moves forward, it mitigates concerns for them," DART Director of External Relations Gordon Shattles said.
The people CBS 11 spoke to said they understand adding transportation in their community but they just want transparency.
"Like tell us what you're doing, don't tell us it's going to be something in 2018 and now it's 2022 and you've changed the ball game," Gross said.
This meeting is a part of the monthly meeting series that DART will be hosting for people who want to know the latest information on the project. On Tuesday, DART focused on answering questions relate to their agenda, other questions will be answered at the next meeting or via email.
