We could not be happier to see the DART Orange Line project begin to take shape. DART and the city of Irving have worked creatively together to use a design-build approach to construction that has significantly reduced the cost of the line and will likely become the model for the design and construction of major transportation projects throughout the country. Rail is being delivered, and plans are proceeding on schedule to have the first segment of service running from Dallas to Irving by December 2011. Now we must focus on completing the original plan to connect the Orange Line from Dallas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport by 2013. We need a decision on the exact rail alignment finalized quickly, in order to get the design started and keep the project on time.

Connection to D/FW Airport is vital to the cities of Dallas and Irving and to the entire North Texas region. This planned direct connection from downtown Dallas through the Las Colinas Urban Center to D/FW Airport has been the basis of more than $4 billion of designated development projects. Property owners along the entire length of the line have relied on the current planned connection to the airport.

Irving's new convention center is under construction at a site selected because of its proximity to the north Urban Center station on the Orange Line. Plans for the redevelopment of Texas Stadium also rely on connecting directly into the airport and to downtown Dallas.

This line will spur thousands of new jobs and improve access to better-paying jobs for residents of historically disadvantaged areas. It will enhance the access and lessen the travel time to the 75,000 jobs at D/FW Airport and the 219,000 jobs in Irving – especially for the 77,000 residents in southern Dallas. And it will link the airport and Irving to more than a million jobs in Dallas. The city of Dallas is pursuing its convention center and other development based on the Orange Line connection to D/FW Airport.

We are confident that DART will preserve its commitment and keep its momentum to complete the Orange Line to D/FW Airport, which will conveniently access a station between Terminals A and B by December 2013. We trust that D/FW Airport will join as a full partner in this endeavor.

As a longtime member of DART, Irving has contributed nearly $1 billion of sales tax toward the support of DART initiatives. In addition, Irving demonstrated the importance of the connection to D/FW Airport by contributing more than $60 million to secure the current Orange Line route.

The Orange Line will greatly improve the quality of life for many North Texans by helping to alleviate growing traffic congestion and decrease air pollution. We must all work together in the region to make the final extension of the Orange Line a reality – with the right design, fully funded and on time.

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