Lake Highlands station

DART Light Rail station in Dallas

Preceding station	Dallas Area Rapid Transit			Following station
White Rock toward UNT Dallas		Blue Line		LBJ/Skillman toward Downtown Rowlett

Lake Highlands station is a DART Light Rail station in the Lake Highlands neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. The station serves the Blue Line.^[1]

The station is located near the intersection of Skillman Street and Walnut Hill Lane at the Lake Highlands Town Center development.^[3] The station is about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of Lake Highlands High School and the Lake Highlands Recreation Center, both of which it is connected to via the Lake Highlands Trail.

History

Plans for the Northeast Corridor, which became the northern leg of the Blue Line, included a station in Lake Highlands under the name Kingsley Road.^[a] While concepts were created for the station, it was not built with the rest of the corridor due to traffic capacity issues on White Rock Trail Road (which would house the station entrance), a junior high school being planned nearby, and neighborhood opposition.^[5]^[6]

In 2005, Dallas created a tax increment financing district for Lake Highlands Town Center, a proposed 769-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the proposed station site.^[7]^[8] The following year, DART allocated $10 million towards constructing the station.^[9] Unlike in the original plan, the station entrance is located on Skillman Street. It was the second infill station to be built by DART, the first being Cityplace station.

The station opened on December 6, 2010, concurrent with the opening of most of the Green Line.^[2] Lake Highlands Town Center, which had been delayed following the Great Recession, would not open until 2014 following a management change and substantial redesigns.^[4]^[8]

Notes

^ Kingsley Road was renamed Walnut Hill Lane in 2005.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "Lake Highlands Station". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Lindenberger, Michael A. (December 7, 2010). "Commuters hop on Green Line". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. p. A1 – via NewsBank.
^ Brown, Steve (January 4, 2016). "New shopping center plans for Lake Highlands Town Center". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation – via NewsBank.
^ ^a ^b Nicholson, Eric (April 27, 2016). "At Lake Highlands Town Center, $37 Million in Public Investment Gets Basically Squat". Dallas Observer. Voice Media Group. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
^ "Northeast Corridor: Final Local Environmental Assessment (Final LEA)" [report]. DART Historical Archive, pp. 1-17, 1-18. The Portal to Texas History, University of North Texas.
^ Griffin, Laura (October 20, 2001). "A change of heart about DART rail - Some neighborhoods that once were opposed now beg for stations". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 1A – via NewsBank.
^ Hughes, Kristine (January 27, 2006). "City asks for Skillman help - Dallas: District agrees on need for renewal but fears losing students". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation – via NewsBank.
^ ^a ^b Gillespie, Sam (September 28, 2015). "Town Center: After years of unfulfilled dreams, are we on the cusp of something new?". Lake Highlands Advocate. Advocate Media. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
^ Hartzel, Tony (October 25, 2006). "DART green-lights 40 miles of new rail for 2030 - Agency spurns call for delay; $50M directed to - Far N. Dallas concerns". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation – via NewsBank.