27 replies to this topic

[RD Milhollin]

The voters of Richland Hills will be asked yet again (4th time) to vote on whether to continue transit service from The T (Fort Worth Transit), including the TRE station and connecting bus service. Perhaps Haltom City and NRH should consider finally joining The T since both cities want train stations on the TexRail line and will need connecting bus service making it practical for residents. Together, those three cities might rate a seat on the T Board...

 

http://www.star-tele...le16026218.html

[elpingüino]

 Perhaps Haltom City and NRH should consider finally joining The T since both cities want train stations on the TexRail line and will need connecting bus service making it practical for residents. Together, those three cities might rate a seat on the T Board...

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that for a city to join the T, it must levy a half-cent sales tax, and Haltom City and North Richland Hills have already reached the maximum sales tax rate allowed by the state. They would have to cut funding for something else in order to make room to fund T service.

[RD Milhollin]

I am not sure about NRH but Haltom City uses a half-cent sales tax increment for funding an Economic Development Corporation and another quarter-cent for funding a Crime Prevention District. The EDC has been identified as being poorly, possibly fraudulently run over much of its history. If the city could ever get back the millions lost to improper management and sell back to private tax-payers all the property hoarded by the EDC the corporation could get along without the sales tax increment. Fully funding the CPD from regular property taxes would be the honest way to run the police department, but it would take strong leadership and initiative, something the city leaders have not been historically known for. The CPD is coming up for a TEN YEAR renewal, and in a city with a dismal voting percentage and a general lack of knowledge of local issues that scheme is probably going to continue to tie up funds for some time.

[Dylan]

Richland Hills wants to leave The T because they don't like the idea of Fort Worth being in control and expanding to other cities? That's absurd.

 

Richland Hills is paying Fort Worth's T for a service that they (RH) are not capable of providing on their own (commuter rail).

 

RH is getting what they're paying for, so why do they care about money from other cities being spent on other cities?

[Volare]

... Fully funding the CPD from regular property taxes would be the honest way to run the police department, but it would take strong leadership and initiative, something the city leaders have not been historically known for. The CPD is coming up for a TEN YEAR renewal, and in a city with a dismal voting percentage and a general lack of knowledge of local issues that scheme is probably going to continue to tie up funds for some time.

 

Huh. Sounds familiar.

[Dylan]

This is the election that Richland Hills voters decide whether to remain part of The T.

 

Hopefully, they vote to remain part of The T and keep the TRE station open.

[Not Sure]

This issue is still not settled? Good grief.

Since they can't figure it out, how about NRH takes over RH? I doubt this would be a question anymore.

NRH has shown a desire to participate in rail transit. The RH station is regionally significant and I would suggest that NRH benefits from it as much if not more than RH.

[JBB]

Agreed on the benefits of the station.  Add Haltom City, Hurst, and Fort Worth to the cities that have similar benefit from that station.

[youngalum]

This upcoming election is the result of the mentality of tea party folk. 

 

Same thing you see in TRWD elections, the JPS expansion and a host of other issues in Tarrant County for growth and opportunity to make the community better being opposed by the same people/groups over and over again.

[renamerusk]

That there is only a surface parking lot at this station after so long in existence boggles the mind!

[JBB]

The location is terrible for just about anything else. It's in the middle of an industrial park, it's next to a freeway, access and traffic is pretty terrible for several hours a day. There's only 1 or 2 pretty small vacant lots just to the south and I think they use that for overflow parking. Anything is possible if the market changes enough, but this site has a lot of challenges when it comes to TOD.

[Dylan]

Good News: voters in Richland Hills voted to remain part of The T.

[Dylan]

Here we go again! Just 6 months after the previous election, Richland Hills is voting yet again on whether to remain part of The T.

 

Apparently, city officials were not happy with the outcome of the previous election. They're also upset about losing a tax rebate for repairing roads.

 

http://www.star-tele...e110408642.html

 

I'm thinking that the writer of the article and city officials:

1- do not understand that sales tax is the best way to pay for transit, or

2- simply do not want transit in Richland Hills.

 

Of the two non-member cities paying for transit, Grapevine is paying The T through a sales tax that voters approved (same funding source that RH is using!), and North Richland Hills is using a TIF (property tax around train stations) option that wouldn't be sufficient in Richland Hills because there are no large developments planned around Richland Hills station.

[JBB]

It's hard to find any news on this right now given the focus on the national campaign, but it looks as if they finally did the deed and voted their way out.

[Austin55]

http://www.star-tele...e113462553.html

[Jeriat]

http://www.star-tele...e113462553.html

 

Welp... 

[Not Sure]

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try again.

[renamerusk]

So what now?  How about a station in East Fort Worth/South Handley  Haltom City:  Handley  Haltom Station - North Beach @ Airport Freeway.  Ample land for potential T.O.D.

[JBB]

The station wouldn't have to move far to get out of Richland Hills.

[Dylan]

There has got to be a better way to fund mass transit than a sales tax that's at the mercy of voters.

 

It's real unfortunate that voters who don't ride transit can deny transportation to people who do ride transit.

 

On a positive note regarding train service, FWTA could "move" the TRE station a mile east (just outside the loop) to the point it would be in Fort Worth proper, though it would be more difficult to access than the current Richland Hills station is.

 

Unfortunately, this is really bad news for residents of Richland Hills proper who rely on busses.

[Not Sure]

Could Fort Worth simply lease or otherwise arrange with Richland Hills to use the station in its current location? There's a lot more to moving the station than just paving a parking lot and roads. The track and signal infrastructure isn't cheap or easy to move around.

[Bonfire98A]

I caught this Wednesday article in the FWST -- it sounds like they're saying the Richland Hills train station isn't going anywhere.

 

The train service will continue uninterrupted for the foreseeable future, said Paul Ballard, Fort Worth Transportation Authority president. Even though the station is in Richland Hills, it’s part of a region-wide system that serves many neighboring cities.

 

“The vote in Richland Hills doesn’t impact TRE service,” he said. “That station serves a much wider customer base than just the residents of Richland Hills. You can see how full the parking lot gets.”

 

Unless this is some kind of dodge, and they're wanting to wait until everyone's calmed down after the elections (read: less mindful of civic issues and back to the usual bread and circuses) to pull the rug out from under them, it sounds like Richland Hills Station's fate has not been sealed.  

 

I spent many a morning waiting for the train there when I used to work in downtown FW, so I know full well how popular it is.

[RD Milhollin]

Too bad some sort of residential/mixed-use Transit-oriented etc. reuse of the old flour mill at Beach St. south of SH-121 couldn't be pulled off. There are a lot of manufacturing and logistics-type jobs in that area that could use easy housing and transportation nearby. It would be a little difficult to pull off the usual connecting bus routes for arriving and departing trains due to the road configuration in that area and the lack of connections between areas on either side of the tracks and the freeway, but there is a lot more happening and potentially happening than around the Richland station.

 

There is a lot of shopping to the north, especially with the Walmart, the El Rancho Supermarket Grocery (pretty amazing selection), and the Vietnam/Asia market area along Belknap. Gateway park is not far to the south, and when fully developed could be a major regional sports and recreation attraction, The soon-to-be developing Greater Riverside neighborhood to is the east and all around; and again, lots of jobs in that area.

 

If the mill elevators were to be re-purposed into apartments (as has been discussed in other Forum threads) and a TRE station placed along the track frontage this area would be given a chance of getting started with redevelopment earlier than if it just kept creeping east as it seems to be doing now. There is plenty of land around there being used less than economically optimal (lots of parking lots, vacant lots, abandoned buildings, etc.) that might become more desirable for redevelopment if things were kick-started and if the daily gridlock along Beach was somehow addressed.

[renamerusk]

Too bad some sort of residential/mixed-use Transit-oriented etc. reuse of the old flour mill at Beach St. south of SH-121 couldn't be pulled off.....

 

Sorta exactly what I have in mind. 

[renamerusk]

Could Fort Worth simply lease or otherwise arrange with Richland Hills to use the station in its current location? There's a lot more to moving the station than just paving a parking lot and roads. The track and signal infrastructure isn't cheap or easy to move around.

 

Actually, closing Richland Hills is preferable IMO.

 

Richland Hills has had ample time to develop its station into a commercial success.  Instead, RH has been stubbornly disinterested, for whatever reason, in commercializing the site and reaping some disparately need sales tax revenue.

 

Fort Worth should pursue developing the Beach Street @ SH121 property into a TOD.  This site can become a pivotal link by using a high frequency bus route between the Haltom City/North Beach Station (TexRail) to the north and a Forest Hills Transit Hub in Southeast Fort Worth.  Commuters would have the options of going into Dallas, Fort Worth  (TRE) and or Grapevine/DFW Airport (TXR).  Such a Bus/Rail crosstown route could be very popular.

[JBB]

And just when it looked like this drama was over:

http://www.star-tele...e120888003.html

[Dylan]

IMO, the validity of the Richland Hills transit election should have been challenged before it actually took place.

 

Here's hoping that The T can be restored in the city, though I doubt the results will be thrown out.

[JBB]

I agree the timing is suspect.  If it wasn't legal, why wasn't it challenged ahead of time?  And all this will do is postpone it until it is legal and it may be hard to get around the fact that the measure passed pretty easily this time.