Area transportation needs face financial hurdle

Fort Worth Business Press
Leslie Wimmer // December 21, 2009

Funding will be the major hurdle for North Texas to begin a regionwide transportation overhaul.
Officials from area businesses, governments and community organizations gathered at the Fort Worth Sheraton on Dec. 11 to listen to speakers discuss economic development, transportation plans and funding challenges during the “Tracks to the Future: Rail and Economic Development in North Texas” event.

About 300 people attended the day-long event which was hosted by a number of area organizations. Speakers included State Sen. Wendy Davis; members of Fort Worth’s City Council; Mayor Mike Moncrief; representatives from the Fort Worth Transportation Authority; Dallas Area Rapid Transit; the Denton County Transportation Authority; the Texas Department of Transportation; the cities of San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City and Portland; and other area business and government leaders.

Vision North Texas Project Manager Karen Walz told the event’s crowd that the Dallas-Fort Worth region is expected to hit a population of 12 million by 2050.

“Think about what that means if we just keep doing what we’ve been doing and taking care of growth the way we have been,” she said.

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