Preliminary Engineering / Environmental Impact Statement Northwest Corridor LRT Line to Irving and DFW Airport Mandalay Place This single family neighborhood, which was constructed in the mid-1980’s, is located directly north of North Lake College between Brangus Drive and Walnut Hill Lane. Las Colinas This neighborhood encompasses several apartment complexes north of North Lake College, surrounding a creek, ponds and greenbelts. The neighborhood includes the Hidden Ridge, Jefferson Park, Jefferson Ridge, Knightsbridge, Rancho Mirage, Archstone at MacArthur (previously Rosemont Apartments), and Villas at Beaver Creek apartments. 3.3 TRANSPORTATION The proposed extension of light rail to Irving within the Northwest Corridor will have to interface with the existing transportation system of roadways, highways, railroads, pedestrian/bicycle facilities, bus routes, and transit centers. This section documents the existing conditions of that transportation system and lays the groundwork for determining what changes will have to be made to accommodate light rail and what impacts that will have. As such, this section focuses on the proposed alignment of the light rail extension and the transportation facilities that parallel or cross it. This study area extends from northwest Dallas westward through Irving towards Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The existing conditions of the transportation system within the Irving/DFW LRT corridor were documented by collecting existing data from various transportation agencies and taking inventory of conditions within the corridor itself. This documentation includes a summary of regional traffic patterns and traffic volumes, intersection conditions, parking usage, bus service, and freight railroad operations. Existing daily and peak hour traffic volumes at most locations were collected from TxDOT, NCTCOG, and the municipal agencies within the corridor. Traffic volumes at certain locations were collected manually in the field. Year 2030 traffic volume projections were obtained from the NCTCOG Mobility 2025 Plan (Amended April 2005) as modeled by DART. The existing configuration of transportation facilities was inventoried in the field. Roadway, rail, and transit facilities projected to exist in the year 2030 were estimated based upon committed and proposed changes to the transportation system as specified by and agreed to by the agencies involved. Transit operation and ridership data were collected from DART. Data concerning bicycle and pedestrian facilities were collected from the cities in the corridor. Finally, any policies governing the use of or interaction between transportation facilities in the corridor were collected from the various government agencies within the corridor. 3.3.1 Transportation Infrastructure This section describes the existing conditions of the transportation infrastructure within the Irving/DFW LRT corridor. This includes transit infrastructure, roads and highways, and railroads. Transit Infrastructure The Project Corridor is served by a network of 14 DART bus routes. Bus transit services operate in mixed traffic on city streets, SH 114, and IH 35E south of IH 635 (Figure 3-10). Just outside the Project Corridor, buses utilize high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on IH 35E north of IH 635, and on IH 635 east of IH 35E. There are two express, eight circulator, one rail-feeder, and three cross- town routes in the corridor. The “circulator” routes operate between transit centers in outer Dallas and in the suburbs. Typically, express routes provide service to downtown Dallas, but one of the express routes is a cross-town route that provides east-west service on IH 635. The corridor bus network generally is oriented in a pattern radiating from downtown Dallas, which is located beyond the southeast edge of the Study Area. In addition, there are several circulator routes within Irving. Final Environmental Impact Statement 3 - 28 Chapter 3 Affected Environment C ab N el l D r M E A Legend K C P B T A E H R Farmers Branch L S T T U Crosstown B H L E U I G N R R O E Express E B G ROYAL LN R L T L ! V U D N E D ID N Local S A E R R P UV111144 UV D Existing Las Colinas APT DFW International JO Airport HN C # North Irving Transit Center AR PE !! NT N ER L ! Proposed Station Belt Line Road FW ! W WALNUT HILL LN Y R E I I V V E 35E Y Carpenter Ranch R Proposed LRT Line E S ¨¦§ ! WALNUT HILL LN L I L D ! to H Irving/DFW A ! E V A RIDGE D R D R R N R E CarY rollton-Farmers Branch D CARBON RD D H H I I ! North Las Colinas Dallas LRTN Line ! E S ! B ! # StudLy Area V North Lake D &-348 College R O C H E L NO !! L RT E HW 161 CALIFORNIA CROSSING RD E UV LN Lake Carolyn B ST L L HIL V HW NUT D Y WAL D R RS TE ES 12 D )" R L "12 E ) P South Las ColinaT s A O H C M ! (deferred) B NORTHGATE DR ! JO B E H R W N ! C A N Bachman AR P I B E F M E N F N T D A L E D E T R C O N R F A L W T ' I Y R O C N Irving T N O E H D N R U ! 482 R N ! D R &- D O ROCHELLE R N B R University of Loop 12 L S L Y T R V E O R D Dallas D (deferred) O R T S E 35E Y ! ! ! l R m ¨¦§ D R F R o r F k T 354 S 354 r UVVU N i n B i t y E AIRPORT FWY R 183 i VU v e r</FNT> W IR O V R IN L G A G BL GRAUWYLER RD E VD R Source: DART, 2005 Figure 3-10 Existing Bus Routes NW Corridor LRT Line to Irving/DFW 0 2,000 4,000 8,000 Environmental Impact Statement Feet ´ Preliminary Engineering / Environmental Impact Statement Northwest Corridor LRT Line to Irving and DFW Airport Cross-town service into Dallas, Farmers Branch, and Carrollton is available, but cross-town service to the other cities surrounding Irving does not exist as they are not DART member cities. There is one transit center within the corridor providing park-and-ride facilities at a major bus transfer center. The North Irving Transit Center provides 715 parking spaces and is served by two express bus routes and five circulator bus routes on weekdays, and five different circulator bus routes during the weekend. On weekdays, one express bus route provides service to downtown Dallas (Route 202) and the other provides express cross-town service to Parker Road Station in Plano (Route 234). In addition to bus service, there is a commuter rail line operated by DART that travels just south of the corridor. The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) rail line links downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth. The first ten miles of the service between downtown Dallas and South Irving opened in 1996, with stations at Union Station, the Medical/Market Center, and South Irving. The second 17 miles extended the service into Richland Hills in September 2000. Service to downtown Fort Worth opened in December 2001. Located south of SH 183 on O’Connor Road, the closest TRE station to the Project Corridor is the South Irving Station, which also contains a bus transfer center served by eight bus routes on weekdays. Finally, within the Las Colinas Urban Center there is a 1.4-mile elevated people-mover system that connects several office buildings. The Las Colinas Area Personal Transit (APT) System is operated and maintained by the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation District. More commonly known as the Las Colinas People-mover, the APT operates between 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM on weekdays and serves four stations in area office buildings. Most traffic consists of office building employees traveling to and from restaurants in other buildings. Rides on the APT System are free. Roads and Highways The existing highway system in the corridor includes several freeways, a tollway, and a network of arterial roadways and local streets (Figure 3-11). In the eastern portion of the corridor, the proposed alignment runs along several highways and arterial roadways, including Spur 482, SH 114, Teleport Boulevard, Las Colinas Boulevard, and Northwest Highway. As the proposed alignment proceeds west of the Las Colinas Urban Center, it no longer follows a particular roadway, but crosses multiple arterial roadways on its way to DFW Airport (such as Hidden Ridge Drive, MacArthur Boulevard, and Walnut Hill Lane). Spur 482 is a short highway that connects Northwest Highway in Dallas to the confluence of freeways surrounding Texas Stadium. SH 114 is a freeway that extends northwest from Texas Stadium to the north end of DFW Airport and continues northwestward into the suburbs north of Fort Worth. Teleport Boulevard is a minor arterial on the south end of the Las Colinas Urban Center, Las Colinas Boulevard is a four-lane arterial on the east edge of the Las Colinas Urban Center, and Northwest Highway is a major arterial in Dallas and extends northwestward into Irving where it becomes Spur 348 and merges with SH 114. After following Spur 482 from the Farmers Branch/Carrollton LRT Line to Texas Stadium, the proposed alignment generally follows the principal freeway in the area, SH 114 (John Carpenter Freeway). SH 114 is part of a system of highways that radiates from the Dallas CBD freeway loop. SH 114 runs in a general northwest-southeast direction and carries an average of 86,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day.