DART Orange Line wins environmental excellence award

Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Northwest Corridor to Irving/DFW Final Environmental Impact Statement is the recipient of the Federal Transit Administration's Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in Environmental Document Preparation. The FEIS provided the environmental clearances for the first nine miles of the Orange Line extending from Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to Belt Line Station near DFW International Airport.

DART is only the second
winner of this FTA award, which will be presented in Orlando, Fla., at the
annual October meeting of the American Public Transportation Association.

Established as a best
practice for other transit agencies to use, the FTA award recognizes exemplary
efforts in preparing effective and practical environmental documents consistent
with prevailing requirements and expectations while achieving the objective of
paperwork reduction.

Construction is currently
under way on the first nine miles of the new Orange Line that will branch from
the Green Line in northwest Dallas through Irving to Las Colinas in 2011 and
Belt Line Station in 2012. The line will be extended to DFW International
Airport by 2013.

The Orange Line is part of
largest light rail project currently under construction in North America. Along
with the completion of the 28-mile Green Line in December 2010 and the
five-mile Blue Line extension from Garland to Rowlett in December 2012, DART is
on pace to nearly double its light rail network to 90 miles by 2013.