Moving Along

A local issue discussed around this time 50 years ago was the possible development of rapid transit in Dallas. There had already been early plans made for the acquisition of the Cotton Belt rail right-of-way by the Texas Turnpike Authority for a tollway from North Dallas to downtown. Mayor Pro-Tem Elgin B. Robertson suggested that a rapid transit line be considered along with auto traffic lanes in the such a toll road. This was successful in other cities such as Chicago and St. Louis where freeways were built that included rapid transit or commuter rail lines in the medians.

I recall we had a class discussion about this topic in 4202 broached by none other than the redoubtable Father Julius May. While our esteemed teacher opined that Dallas should plan for mass transit, the student consensus seemed to be that rapid transit was not going to be in Dallas’s future because the city too spread out and people here wanted the freedom that comes with driving their cars, and would not use mass transportation. There were a few that believed there would be an eventual need for some kind of mass transportation facility other than the current Dallas Transit bus system, formerly privately owned but by then run by the city.

It is well known that the Dallas North Tollway was completed from just north of downtown to what became LBJ Freeway by the end of the 1960s with no rapid transit included, or planned for the future. This was partly foreseeable in 1962 because the Cotton Belt right-of-way was considerably narrower than those acquired combination freeway-mass transit corridors in the other cities.

Rapid (more or less) transit has come to Dallas nevertheless. By the end of this year it will be possible to ride a light rail train from Rowlett (whose existence few of us were aware of back then) almost to DFW Airport (which was on no one’s radar at the time, though the FAA had expressed its wish that Dallas-Fort Worth should have a regional airport). When you add in the commuter rail projects in Denton County and the Trinity Railway Express it is now s possible to travel to downtown Denton and downtown Fort Worth by steel wheels all the way from many points in Dallas.

We still cherish our automobiles, however, in spite of the traffic jams and gas prices, I for one do not expect that to change, at least during our lifetime. On the latter note regular gasoline in 1962 fluctuated between $0.25 and $0.30 per gallon (it could go lower a price war). According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis inflation calculator, that is between $1.90 and $2.00 in today’s money.

On Saturday, a half-century ago, the Rangers managed to edge Lawton, Oklahoma 18 – 16. Class of ‘63 standouts were Caesar Ricci, catching a 25 yard scoring pass, Richard Jackson, with a run in from the 3 yard line set up by another long completion to Ricci, and a pass to Bill Mokry in the 4^th quarter.

This year Jesuit rolled up 491 yards of offense for a 68 – 6 rout of Sunset. Wow!

NOTE TO READERS:  I may not post next week.  Will be out of the country for a brief vacation.  Will catch up later, if so.