A little more than 35 years ago, the suburbs bought into this idea that the Dallas area needed a regional transportation system to grow, prosper and compete with other cities internationally. The cities were told we would build a hub-and-spoke system, with the hub in downtown Dallas.

Building out from the hub would mean all of the money for light rail for the first 20 years of DART's existence would be spent entirely within Dallas. The suburbs would get connectivity through bus service until the spokes could be built out to them in the future. That was what happened for 20 years and we continued to pay our part and believe in the concept of regional transit.

The recent rhetoric in Dallas pitting plans for the D2 downtown subway line against plans to build the suburban Cotton Belt line is disheartening to many of us who have been here from the beginning. We know the promises that were made and that Dallas could not have built the system that exists inside Dallas in a timely manner without the commitment of the suburbs.

I was the only representative from the suburbs on the D2 committee, so I am familiar with all of those conversations. The DART board has recommended that both the Cotton Belt and the D2 line be pursued. I agree. Don't be fooled, though — the goal among some people in Dallas is to kill the Cotton Belt so that it won't go through North Dallas.

I am not convinced at all that the project has been fairly represented to people in those North Dallas neighborhoods or that everyone in North Dallas is opposed to the Cotton Belt, but we never seem to be able to get past the negative rhetoric to have informed and intelligent conversations.

The last project that was thrown together eight or so years ago to derail the Cotton Belt was a proposal to build a cross-town line under Interstate 635. A coalition of the suburban DART board members and the members from South and West Dallas defeated this idea because of the impracticality and expense.

Right now, in order ride DART to Carrollton from North Dallas, you need to get over to Forest Lane or one of the Richardson stations and take the Red Line to downtown Dallas and change to the Green Line and take it all the way out to Carrollton. The Cotton Belt would provide a cross-town route to DFW International Airport. This might even relieve some use of downtown lines, and might not even need the second downtown line as quickly.

The Cotton Belt has been queued up for three decades, and every time we think it is going to happen, someone finds a project to move in front of it. DART built a line to serve the University of North Texas campus in southern Dallas, which was a facility that didn't even exist when Addison and the suburbs joined DART. How did that get moved ahead of the Cotton Belt? I went to North Texas, and I am glad it is there, but it is an example of the flexibility that exists when Dallas wants something.

Dallas has already been well-served by its membereship in DART. Dallas had a failing bus system that the DART cities took over and funded. DART offers a streetcar system, paratransit services, the miles of HOV lanes and the Trinity Railway Express. And DART is able to serve special events like the State Fair of Texas.

Where now is the leadership that will talk about the region? We don't build transportation systems that end at the city limits. Isolationism is absurd in this region. Connectivity is our strength, and it is going to take roads and rail and buses and cars and things we haven't even thought of to accommodate all the people who want to come to this area for jobs and opportunity.

Everyone is watching to see who the Dallas City Council will name to the DART board this week. Will Dallas appoint members who always favor the council's position, or will it select representatives who will do what is right for the entire region? This is why many of the suburbs didn't join DART originally.

The DART system is admired by many other parts of the country. It required leaders from Dallas setting a vision and convincing the suburbs of a big regional idea. The Cotton Belt has been part of that vision for 30 years, and I hope Dallas representatives will seek honest solutions to the D2 line and the Cotton Belt, because the region needs both.

Ron Whitehead was the city manager of Addison from 1982 to 2014. Email: rwhitehead49@gmail.com

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