Council Receives Cotton Belt Trail Update

The Cotton Belt Trail (CBT) is a regional trail that is part of the Regional Veloweb which is a 1,883-mile network of off-street shared-use paths designed for multi-use trip purposes by cyclists, pedestrians, and other non-motorized forms of transportation that connect 10 counties and 105 Cities in North Central Texas. In Addison, the CBT will span between the North Dallas Tollway and Marsh Lane as part of the hike and bike trail planned to run beside the new DART Silver Line from Plano to DFW Airport. At the August 23 City Council meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Janna Tidwell discussed recent updates from the North Central Council of Governments (NCTCOG) regarding the design and funding of the CBT, as well as a grant application to request funding for a portion of the CBT. 

The design for the trail is completely funded. Addison has $3,792,027 available for construction of sections of the trail. Of the funds available, $2,697,457 has been identified for the Midway Pedestrian Bridge which is a considered a critical trail section. Until recently, NCTCOG indicated the Midway Bridge was completely funded. However, that was based on 10% design plans that required additional information such as a site survey, location of utilities, completion of a geotechnical report, and design of the bridge and abutments. The estimates also did not include four years of inflation and estimated that the construction would be in conjunction with the adjacent rail line. The current Opinion of Probable Cost estimates recently received by Town staff indicate the construction of the Midway Pedestrian Bridge segment will be closer to $11 million.  

NCTCOG has invited Addison to respond to a call for Regional Transportation Alternatives Projects to request funding of $11 million for the Midway Pedestrian Bridge. The grant application indicates high priority will be given to regional Veloweb trail connections such as the Midway Pedestrian Bridge. If the funding requested were awarded this would allow $3,792,027 in funds available to Addison to be applied to the construction of the remaining trail sections. During its August 26 meeting, Council approved a resolution supporting the application to Regional Transportation Alternatives Program for Council consideration.

You can watch the Council's Cotton Belt Trail discussion here.