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Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line


dubone

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^^Yep, that's still the plan as far as i know. There are a lot of documents and links on this page, but you can view the illustrated plan on this page:

Northeast Corridor Bicycle Vision Study

Aside from the immediate addition of the multi use trail, the NECI projects will retrofit any additional roads/sidewalks along the entire corridor. 

 

I'm so excited Brevard will be getting more attention. It's my favorite bike route.

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Question: Are there plans of giving a streetscape to Brevard? Or at least sidewalks? Seems like a good opportunity to add a sidewalk or multi-use path running along side the BLE.

Yes, those plans are in the works as part of the Cross Charlotte Trail and the NEC Improvements packages. I don't think a cross section has been finalized, but I know early schemes called for a multi-use trail to one side.

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I have a friend who lives in Spectrum.  He said he and his girlfriend now jump the tracks "at least 2-3 times a week".  I can't imagine he is alone in that regard.  So they better think of something before we get a terrible headline out of it.

Wait, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but is it really the city's responsibility to prevent people from being idiots?

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Wait, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but is it really the city's responsibility to prevent people from being idiots?

It was NATIONAL NEWS when a streetcar went out of control on its 2nd day running. Imagine if they broadsided a dude trying to get to Publix... 

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It was NATIONAL NEWS when a streetcar went out of control on its 2nd day running. Imagine if they broadsided a dude trying to get to Publix... 

NO. There is a huge difference between a run away streetcar and a train hitting someone who is crossing the tracks by jumping the tracks at a non-sanctioned crossing. Even if it DID become a story...lots of things become stories that do not qualify as such.

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Wait, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but is it really the city's responsibility to prevent people from being idiots?

It is, in the same way  that it is the city's responsibility to make roads that allow bicycles to safely ride on them, giving equal access to the infrastructure. Otherwise, the people who ride bikes on those roads are "idiots" and "insane.

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It is, in the same way  that it is the city's responsibility to make roads that allow bicycles to safely ride on them, giving equal access to the infrastructure. Otherwise, the people who ride bikes on those roads are "idiots" and "insane.

You are probably making that argument to the wrong person since I regularly say, "you'd have to be an idiot to ride a bike on that road" when I see someone on a bike in an area that I think is dangerous.

Also, don't get me wrong...I'm not against the creation of a new crossing here or even better, a new station. I just don't think that the city is on the hook to fix a problem being created by people who ignore proper crossing areas and do dumb things. Sort of in the same way I don't think they need to rework 7th street simply because someone might get drunk and stagger into the street. Hey, how about don't get drunk (which from reading many posts on here I realize sounds like the craziest idea of all to some).

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I hear you, if a person is doing something they shouldn't be doing, it's not necessarily the responsibility of the government to find a fix for it (ie, bad parents ruining it for the rest of us, etc) However I would make the case that when a government body- who keeps a prudent eye on the uses and habits people have when utilizing the infrastructure ammenities that THEY, the government, created- sees a problem with the current design of their project, conflicting with how people are trying to use it, have a responsibility to alter these facilities to better serve the demand. Public safety is a priority when the public is the one funding a road/train.

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while I agree its not the city's responsibility to stop people from being stupid / trespassing, it is (or should be) the city's job to ensure that it develops in a dense and fiscally efficient way. Making sure that there is a useful and reasonable pedestrian and bike grid is a significant part of this responsibility. 

FWIW CATS build a fine looking ped crossing in front of Scaleybark that has been fenced off ever since it was built. You can see it here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1924745,-80.8740406,38m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

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Wait, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but is it really the city's responsibility to prevent people from being idiots?

Nah.  It's the city's job to provide connectivity and safe, pedestrian friendly areas in a district that they promote as such.  Just like if 20,000 people move into Monroe, it's the city or the state's responsibility to eventually build a traffic light at an intersection that suddenly has piles of cars moving through it.  To help prevent future accidents!  

It is almost as if, a city should provide services for the people who live in it, no?  

 

Or I dunno, maybe I'm just drunk.

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Nah.  It's the city's job to provide connectivity and safe, pedestrian friendly areas in a district that they promote as such.  Just like if 20,000 people move into Monroe, it's the city or the state's responsibility to eventually build a traffic light at an intersection that suddenly has piles of cars moving through it.  To help prevent future accidents!  

It is almost as if, a city should provide services for the people who live in it, no?  

 

Or I dunno, maybe I'm just drunk.

Perhaps so. Because you are equating people driving on a road that is intended for cars and travel with "jumping the tracks". A better analogy would be those people in Monroe deciding to turn off the road and cut through a field to get somewhere they didn't want to drive a little further on the road to get to. In that instance they would and SHOULD get a ticket. It's as if people should, I dunno, follow the prescribed pathways and not decide they can do whatever they please and expect the city to immediately prioritize their wants.

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Perhaps so. Because you are equating people driving on a road that is intended for cars and travel with "jumping the tracks". A better analogy would be those people in Monroe deciding to turn off the road and cut through a field to get somewhere they didn't want to drive a little further on the road to get to. In that instance they would and SHOULD get a ticket. It's as if people should, I dunno, follow the prescribed pathways and not decide they can do whatever they please and expect the city to immediately prioritize their wants.

I think the point is not to justify the action, but be proactive in execution. It's not smart to hop the fence, but it begins to seem like the better choice when you're in your 20s and can avoid walking a mile to get to a location 30 feet away.

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I don't know. We've all seen those idiots who walk on the side of the highway, but I was amazed to find myself as one of those idiots when I temporarily didn't own a car and lived in South End, and my then-fiance lived at the end of the Blue Line, one exit down I-485. It was either walk/bike 0.25 mile on the shoulder to her place, or walk/bike 3.9 miles down Sharon Rd W and Park Rd, which was literally the only other way to get to that godforsaken neighborhood. (Maybe "godforsaken" is a bit much, but that part of town is a pedestrian death trap in general, forget the highway stuff)

As a result, I don't see why at least some select stretches of highways don't have pedestrian pathways parallel to them with safety barriers, connecting all the neighborhoods alongside them. ESPECIALLY that stretch near the blue line. I know you don't want to encourage pedestrians to be near highways, but if you've already bisected the area in half, then you may as well not limit peoples' movement alongside the road itself.

I don't know. I was crazy back then, and I could have died. But the whole experience gave me some insight into what people are thinking when they do stupid things like these. But that's my 2 cents

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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Perhaps so. Because you are equating people driving on a road that is intended for cars and travel with "jumping the tracks". A better analogy would be those people in Monroe deciding to turn off the road and cut through a field to get somewhere they didn't want to drive a little further on the road to get to. In that instance they would and SHOULD get a ticket. It's as if people should, I dunno, follow the prescribed pathways and not decide they can do whatever they please and expect the city to immediately prioritize their wants.

my point is, people are doing it daily.  It's dangerous, and stupid, but can be remedied.  You can sit here and tell us all day what people should and shouldn't do and the morality of it all, but the reality is someone is eventually going to get killed.  So yes, given that it appears to be a relatively simple fix, I'd rather the city spend money to build a safe access point as opposed to having someone (stupid or drunk) get hit by a damn train.

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The CO is reporting that Blue Line Expansion has some extra money so they plan on using about $20 million towards additional projects along the line. Including:

- Expanding North Yard Storage facility from 5,000 to 20,000 sf to allow for maintenance on two trains.

- Pedestrian bridge for better access to Sugar Creek Station (THANKFULLY!)

- Extended pedestrian bridge at JW Clay/UNCC station.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article34174269.html

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Blue Line Platform length mystery might be solved:

The Blue Line capacity enhancement TIGER funded project (extending four platforms) should be wrapping up soon, but CATS has been silent about how it planned to increase the length of the remaining 11 platforms on the Blue Line to handle three vehicle trains. It appears that CATS is working on Core Capacity Project Grant to increase the size of the remaining 11 platforms (I am 93% certain that all the platforms on the BLE are being built with three vehicle capacity). EIS should be complete in February, engineering should start March 2017, project is hoped to be complete by November 2021 (!?!)

http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/NC_Charlotte_LYNX_Blue_Line_Capacity_Expansion_PD_Profile_v4.pdf

The $40 million total cost seems awfully steep since all of the electrical work will have been completed from the TIGER grant.

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Re: Ped crossing at Publix:

The fact that anyone has to make an argument to allow pedestrians to cross the tracks is ridiculous. There's already a pedestrian crossing here. So far there have been zero injuries or fatalities associated with it. I say build it and install pedestrian crossing gates/arms.

The ITE has plenty of engineer-approved options: http://www.ite.org/bookstore/gradecrossing/sec09.htm

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Re: Ped crossing at Publix:

The fact that anyone has to make an argument to allow pedestrians to cross the tracks is ridiculous. There's already a pedestrian crossing here. So far there have been zero injuries or fatalities associated with it. I say build it and install pedestrian crossing gates/arms.

The ITE has plenty of engineer-approved options: http://www.ite.org/bookstore/gradecrossing/sec09.htm

oOOOooooOO good point. I've crossed there before going to the breweries. 

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Blue Line Platform length mystery might be solved:

The Blue Line capacity enhancement TIGER funded project (extending four platforms) should be wrapping up soon, but CATS has been silent about how it planned to increase the length of the remaining 11 platforms on the Blue Line to handle three vehicle trains. It appears that CATS is working on Core Capacity Project Grant to increase the size of the remaining 11 platforms (I am 93% certain that all the platforms on the BLE are being built with three vehicle capacity). EIS should be complete in February, engineering should start March 2017, project is hoped to be complete by November 2021 (!?!)

http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/NC_Charlotte_LYNX_Blue_Line_Capacity_Expansion_PD_Profile_v4.pdf

The $40 million total cost seems awfully steep since all of the electrical work will have been completed from the TIGER grant.

Can you (or anyone else) help me understand this timeframe? Are some platforms being upgraded now with 11 more to follow by 2021 or will it be 2021 before any of the platforms are lengthened? Somehow I had the impression that some would be extended in the immediate future (as in I actually thought they would be done by now).

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