For many trail planners, advocates and
users around the U.S., rails-with-trails
represent the next great frontier.
converted into a rail-trail in the first place
now made possible the reactivation of
train service on the same corridor.
Over the previous decade, the rail-trail
had become such a popular amenity that
simply erasing the trail in order to build the
new rail line wasn’t an option. Conscious
of the need to get the most out of this valu-
able corridor in an increasingly built-out
environment, the city’s planners got
>>
directly from Denton toward downtown
Dallas—would one day be worth much
more than the $10,000 they paid for it.
“
We always recognized we had to
preserve this corridor for future transpor-
tation uses,” says Bob Tickner, Denton’s
former superintendent of parks planning.
“
We knew it would one day become pas-
senger rail; we just didn’t know when.”
Tickner’s predictions about population
growth and rail service were right on the
money. When Dallas Area Rapid Transit
(
DART) began buying up sections of
line for its burgeoning light rail system,
Denton found itself in a strong posi-
tion, owning rights to a corridor that had
become a key piece of the transportation
plan for the Dallas metropolitan region.
And the federal railbanking legislation
that enabled the disused corridor to be
team:
rails
to
trails
u
spring/summer.14
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