DART selects Jacobs as design consultant for Cotton Belt rail project

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has chosen Jacobs as the principal design consultant for the Cotton Belt Regional Rail Corridor project.

As the principal design consultant to the joint venture team of Archer Western Construction LLC and Herzog Contracting Corp., Jacobs will provide design and oversight services for track alignments, drainage, bridges, retaining walls and signaling for the project.

DART estimates the contract value is $1.1 billion, Jacobs officials said in a press release.

The 26-mile Cotton Belt commuter-rail line will extend between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Shiloh Road Station in Plano, and will connect to three existing DART light-rail lines. The agency anticipates the design-build project will be completed by 2022.

"Connecting three counties and seven cities — including Dallas, the fastest-growing U.S. metro area — the Cotton Belt project will enhance mobility, job growth and economic development throughout the corridor," said Thomas Meinhart, Jacobs' buildings and infrastructure vice president of regional operations. "By providing additional passenger-rail connections, DART is confronting population growth with smart and sustainable transit options to reduce congestion and delays for Texans."

The Cotton Belt line will connect to DART's existing Orange, Green and Red lines, as well as to Trinity Metro's TEXRail, a 27-mile regional commuter line between DFW Airport and downtown Fort Worth.

Meanwhile, DART announced yesterday it has renamed a future Orange Line station to Hidden Ridge Station in Irving, Texas, to tie in with the city's $1 billion mixed-use development project that’s underway nearby. The 110-acre development for Verizon Communications Inc. includes retail, restaurants, a hotel and office space.

Agreeing to the name change now allows DART to incorporate the name into future construction at no incremental costs. Hidden Ridge Station will connect the mixed-use project with DFW Airport and downtown Dallas.

The station used to be known as Carpenter Ranch Station.