DART awards joint venture design-build contract

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is making the final push to DFW Airport with the award of a design-build contract to construct a 5.2-mile extension of the Orange Line from the future Belt Line Station to the airport's Terminal A. A joint venture of Kiewit, Stacy and Witbeck, Reyes, Parsons (KSWRP) was selected by the DART Board of Directors to complete the $149.7 million project known as Irving-3 (I-3).

Construction should begin in early 2012 and the I-3 section is scheduled to open on Dec. 15, 2014. DFW Airport is building the Terminal A station. The first two sections of the Orange Line will open July 30, 2012 and Dec. 3, 2012, respectively. Those two sections are also being built by the KSWRP joint venture.

The project will be funded locally, however because of its multi-modal nature (airport service, light rail and buses), DART is pursuing $130 million in federal funds under the TIGER III program, which are aimed at multi-modal transportation projects. Receiving the federal funds could free up local dollars for other agency projects.