McKinney Avenue Transit Authority - History

History

Metropolitan Dallas had numerous streetcar lines from the late 19th century through 1930s. Previous to MATA, the last streetcar ran in Dallas during the mid-50's. Numerous maps of the old trolley routes are available online.

During the 80's, there was a movement to restore streetcar service in Dallas's Uptown neighborhood after some of the original rails were uncovered on McKinney Avenue. New rails were first laid in September 1988 near Hall Street. The initial infrastructure would be in place in the summer of 1989. On July 22, 1989 Dallas saw a return of the streetcar as Car 122 broke a celebratory banner.

In 1995, the agency had to fix subsidence in Cole Avenue causing a dip in the tracks between Hall and Bowen Streets. About 200 feet of track was replaced.

By the late 1990s, it became apparent that the 110 year old brick pavement on McKinney Avenue could no longer support modern day car, truck and bus traffic. Repairs began in July 1999 and were completed in December 2000. The street was repaved with concrete brick and most of the old brick was saved for sidewalks and other amenities. Work was done on one lane of the street at a time. Many times the streetcars were rerouted, sometimes with a shoofly. For several months the north loop was inaccessible due to utility work at Allen and McKinney.