Downtown Rowlett station

Downtown Rowlett station (previously Rowlett Park and Ride) is a DART light 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).

Downtown Rowlett
Downtown Rowlett station in July 2015
General information
Location	5000 Martin Drive[1] Rowlett, Texas
Coordinates	32.9042°N 96.5634°W / 32.9042; -96.5634
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 (2000-05-22)[3] (bus) December 3, 2012 (2012-12-03)[4] (rail)
Services
Preceding station Dallas Area Rapid Transit Following station Downtown Garland toward UNT Dallas Blue Line Terminus
Location

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.