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Yesterday, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officials decided to eliminate a proposed tunnel serving Love Field Airport from the agency’s 35-mile Northwest/Southeast rail expansion plans.

The Federal Transit Administration recently informed DART that the project would not be recommended for federal funding if it included the one-mile, $160 million tunnel because the structure would lower the project’s cost-effectiveness rating.

The administration issued a "recommended" rating for the 20.9-mile base alignment linking Pleasant Grove, South Dallas, Fair Park, Deep Ellum, downtown Dallas, Dallas Medical/Market Center and Farmers Branch. Regional extensions will serve Carrollton, North Irving and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Agency planners now will study other options to serve Love Field.

Last week, Congress included $8.5 million in the FY2005 omnibus appropriations bill for DART to begin designing and acquiring property for the expansion. The agency plans to request a $700 million Full Funding Grant Agreement for the project.