Downtown Rowlett station
DART rail station in Rowlett, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Downtown Rowlett station (previously Rowlett Park and Ride) is a DART rail station in Rowlett, Texas. The station is located in Rowlett's historic downtown district, approximately 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) south of Lakeview Parkway (SH 66) and 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) west of President George Bush Turnpike (SH 190).
Rowlett, Texas
Downtown Rowlett | |||||||||||
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Downtown Rowlett station in July 2015 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 5000 Martin Drive[1] Rowlett, Texas | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32.9042°N 96.5634°W | ||||||||||
| System | DART rail | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Dallas Area Rapid Transit | ||||||||||
| Connections | Rowlett GoLink Zone (M-Sun), Southeast Garland GoLink Zone (M-Sun) Rockwall Dial-A-Ride (M-F) Hunt County Connection (M-F) | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Parking | 750 spaces[1] | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | 3 lockers,[2] 1 rack | ||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | May 22, 2000[3] (bus) December 3, 2012[4] (rail) | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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The station is the northern terminus of the Blue Line[1] and the main transfer point for Eastern Pilot GoLink, a microtransit service that serves Rowlett and southeastern Garland.[5] The station is also served by the Rockwall Dial-A-Ride service[6] and a shuttle to Greenville.[7][8]
History
Dallas Area Rapid Transit originally serviced the city of Rowlett through a park-and-ride lot at Christian City Church, located about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of the current station at the intersection of Lakeview Parkway and Dalrock Road. DART paid the church $10,000 per year to lease the site on weekdays.[9]
In 1997, DART announced the construction of a dedicated park-and-ride lot in downtown Rowlett,[10] which would allow for more streamlined bus routes.[9] The facility opened on May 22, 2000, as the Rowlett Park and Ride.[3] The opening of the facility coincided with the introduction of DART On-Call, a demand-response service for Rowlett neighborhoods east of the lot.[11]
The lot was located on a former Missouri–Kansas–Texas rail corridor which DART had purchased for a future extension of its light rail system.[10] On March 25, 2011, DART held a groundbreaking for the extension.[12] Testing began in April 2012,[13] and the completed extension opened on December 3, 2012.[4] In tandem with the opening, the facility was renamed to Downtown Rowlett station.
On September 30, 2016, Hunt County-based transit service The Connection announced the creation of a shuttle route between the station and Greenville.[8]
On May 7, 2018, DART implemented a parking permit system at the station. Certain segments of the lot are reserved on weekdays for drivers with a free permit indicating that they are a resident of one of DART's 14 member cities.[14] A similar system is in use at Parker Road station, though the two permits are not interchangeable.
