McKINNEY, Texas — McKinney engineering staff on Jan. 7 outlined three options to improve east–west mobility across DART rail lines: a grade-separated overpass at Wilmoth Road, a new Lamar Street crossing tied to the municipal campus redevelopment, and upgrades at the Broad Street underpass.

Gary Graham, the city’s director of engineering, told the council the three projects address different needs: regional mobility and industrial access (Wilmoth), downtown ingress and egress for the municipal campus (Lamar), and safety and neighborhood concerns at an aging Broad Street rail trestle.

Cost estimates and railroad requirements

Graham presented rough cost estimates and described complications tied to railroad operations and federal grant competitiveness. "The total estimates right now is $27,000,000" for a Wilmoth grade separation, Graham said, and noted the city has submitted federal FRA (rail) grant requests for preliminary engineering. He said an at-grade option with new quad gates would cost substantially less but offer a smaller safety benefit and would likely be less competitive for FRA funding.

For a Lamar crossing the city was told by railroad representatives that adding a new crossing typically requires closing existing crossings; staff said DART offered an alternative that would allow a new crossing if the city either closed two crossings or made a cash payment of $2,000,000 to count as an eliminated crossing. Graham also reported that a siding (a short storage track) near the proposed Lamar location would require relocation and extension — staff estimated siding relocation costs in the $30 million–$40 million range, and the overall package for a Lamar crossing including siding relocation could bring the total to $40 million–$55 million.

Council priorities and staff direction

Council members debated priorities and cost-effectiveness. Multiple members said Lamar should be the council’s top priority because it improves access to the municipal campus and a large redevelopment parcel east of Throckmorton. Several members said Wilmoth is valuable but a lower immediate priority. Broad Street drew concern from residents and council for aesthetics, trash and safety; council members indicated Broad Street would not be placed in the five-year capital plan for major construction but asked staff to pursue cleanup and aesthetic maintenance and to seek pragmatic improvements that do not require large capital outlays.

Questions about grant competitiveness and railroad policy

Staff warned that FRA grant reviewers weigh national safety benefit and that projects with only a few trains per week are less competitive. Staff also noted that freight and passenger-rail operators (DGNO and DART) have operational constraints — the city would need to relocate railroad siding tracks to preserve railroad operations if Lamar is added at the preferred location.

Next steps

Council asked staff to pursue further discussions with DART and rail operators to identify whether an agreement can be negotiated that would permit a Lamar crossing without undertaking Wilmoth-grade separation at full cost, and to pursue available federal planning grants. Members also asked staff to look into lower-cost interim safety improvements and community-maintenance options at Broad Street.