Forest Lane station

DART Light Rail station in Dallas, Texas

Preceding station	Dallas Area Rapid Transit			Following station
Walnut Hill toward Westmoreland		Red Line		LBJ/Central toward Parker Road
Walnut Hill toward DFW Airport		Orange Line		LBJ/Central toward Parker Road

Location

Forest Lane station is a DART Light Rail station in northeastern Dallas, Texas. The elevated station, which serves the Red Line and Orange Line, is located on Forest Lane, 1⁄3 mile (0.54 km) east of North Central Expressway (US 75) and 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway (I-635).^[1]

The station serves the Medical City Dallas hospital complex, the Cottonwood Trail, and the Hamilton Park neighborhood.^[1] In tribute to the largely African-American population of Hamilton Park, the station features a sculpture dedicated to African-Americans who fought against housing segregation.^[3]^[4]

History

North Central Transit Center

Northeastern Dallas was originally serviced by the North Central Transit Center, a park-and-ride bus station located between North Central Expressway and Coit Road. The transit center was announced by the Texas Department of Transportation in 1983, several months before DART's formation; it was opened in 1985.^[5]

The lot consisted of an air-conditioned waiting area and 1,300 parking spaces.^[5] In addition to servicing DART, the center was intended to service Surtran,^[5] a municipal bus service connecting Dallas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, but Surtran was discontinued in 1985.^[6]

The lot was closed after Forest Lane opened in 2002,^[7] with all its bus routes moving to Forest Lane station. The lot was left unused for several years before it was redeveloped; it is currently the location of a Costco store.

Forest Lane

Forest Lane station opened on July 1, 2002, as part of the Red Line's second major expansion.^[3] The Saturday before, an opening ceremony, dubbed "Super Saturday", was held at both the Forest Lane and Arapaho Center stations.^[8]

In May 2011, the Cottonwood Trail was extended south from North Central Expressway to the White Rock Creek Trail. The extension included a trailhead at Forest Lane, which was the first trailhead to be located at any DART station.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Forest Lane Station". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
^ "Bicycle Parking". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hartzel, Tony (June 2, 2002). "DART light-rail stations reach new level". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 36A – via NewsBank.
^ "DART Gallery: A Collection of Public Art" (PDF). Dallas Area Rapid Transit. p. 22.
^ ^a ^b ^c Myerson, Allen R. (May 10, 1983). "State to build N. Dallas bus complex". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 1A – via NewsBank.
^ "Scope and Content". DART and the Dallas Transit System, 1971-1987. Dallas Municipal Archives.
^ "DART Changes". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. June 23, 2002. pp. 32A – via NewsBank.
^ Post, Sarah (June 27, 2002). "Events to mark changes rolling into town - Residents to celebrate light rail's arrival, new home for Wildflower!". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 1R.
^ Simnacher, Joe (July 5, 2011). "Dallas on path to improved trails". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. B1 – via NewsBank.