The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will be renovating the Park Lane and SMU/Mockingbird Stations from June 23 until June 26, causing a temporary disruption of service for the Red and Orange Lines.
DART will replace a portion of rail north of SMU/Mockingbird Station and perform concrete repairs at Park Lane Station during the four-day disruption.
The public transit service will utilize shuttle buses instead of light rail cars to transport passengers between those stations during this time.
The shuttle buses will be managed by a private charter bus service and will not display the DART branding. Passengers can look for the charter buses at each station near the red “Rail Disruption” bus stop signs to ride a shuttle bus. Each impacted station will be supported by shuttle buses.
“Anytime we have a repair project that involves closing a station, we try to minimize the inconvenience to our passengers,” DART spokesperson Gordon Shattles told The Dallas Express. “That includes making sure we have extra charter company shuttle buses to ensure passenger wait times are kept to a minimum and having DART staff and volunteers on the platforms to ensure everyone knows where to go.”
Commuters taking the Red Line will switch to shuttle buses between the SMU/Mockingbird Station and the Walnut Hill Station.
“We anticipate that this will, unfortunately, add approximately 15 minutes to our passengers’ commute,” he added.
Orange Line trains will only run between DFW Airport Station and Pearl/Arts District Station while the repairs are ongoing. Passengers on the northbound Orange Line should take a Red Line or Blue Line train from the Pearl/Arts District Station to the SMU/Mockingbird Station, then transfer to a shuttle bus to get to their destination.
There will be no adjustments to the Blue or Green Line routes. Standard light rail service for all lines will resume on June 27.
Shattles said that “the maintenance and repair measures from June 23-26 are part of DART’s State of Good Repair (SGR) program, ensuring that the light rail system is able to operate at a full level of performance.”
The upcoming projects are financed through DART local funds. An estimated cost for this renovation was not immediately available.
