Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[HopHead]

BLE track continues to be put down.. (from University City Partners)

[southslider]

BLE opens late summer 2017. NCDOT's Sugar Creek bridge opens fall 2018. Guess that ped bridge to Sugar Creek station will be even more important for NoDa.

[Skyybutter]

I was driving on 85 N just after the Sugar Creek exit and as your driving , right before you go under the bridge for traffic merging from 29/49 at one point you could see the crane where they are working on the bridge where the BLE will go above that intersection where the Wal-mart or Ikea is (cant remember its changing so much. I  am just wondering if the bridge is going to be high enough that motorist on 85 might catch a glimpse of the trains as they are crossing on that tall bridge. It is a pretty tall bridge and how awesome would it be for people to see those awesome modern trains crossing off in the distance. If so wouldn't it be the only place from 77 or 85 that motorist could catch a glimpse? Fingers crossed. We might just have to wait and see. 

[Skyybutter]

BLE opens late summer 2017. NCDOT's Sugar Creek bridge opens fall 2018. Guess that ped bridge to Sugar Creek station will be even more important for NoDa.

  Im a bit worried of the sketchiness of some of the neighborhoods around Sugar Creek. Im all about the BLE being for everyone and thats how it should be, but initially I feel like people in Charlotte could avoid riding. I lived in Philly and got use to the sketchiness but Charlotte is pretty green in mingling so Im so curious to see. Im not at all concerned with the college students taking it. Can only hope for lots of fresh development around all of the stops pretty quickly.

 

Does anyone have a number they can share on the proposed number of houses, apartments, and condos announced on the BLE from uptown all the way out. I know it's nowhere near what SouthEnd has produced. Theres no reason it shouldnt be. The catch is I think the development will heve to be a bit more vertical all the way past Sugar Creek due to lack of good space. Im great with that. Is the land zoned for taller development say 10-15 floors?

[kermit]

I was driving on 85 N just after the Sugar Creek exit and as your driving , right before you go under the bridge for traffic merging from 29/49 at one point you could see the crane where they are working on the bridge where the BLE will go above that intersection where the Wal-mart or Ikea is (cant remember its changing so much. I  am just wondering if the bridge is going to be high enough that motorist on 85 might catch a glimpse of the trains as they are crossing on that tall bridge. It is a pretty tall bridge and how awesome would it be for people to see those awesome modern trains crossing off in the distance. If so wouldn't it be the only place from 77 or 85 that motorist could catch a glimpse? Fingers crossed. We might just have to wait and see. 

nope, the bridge won't be that high. I am 99% sure the crane you are seeing is for the parking deck at Ikea blvd ext (at the world's worst Waffle House) being built, not the bridge.

Edited October 1, 2015 by kermit

[kermit]

Does anyone have a number they can share on the proposed number of houses, apartments, and condos announced on the BLE from uptown all the way out. 

The newest FTA quarterly report has what you are looking for on page 96. http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/Documents/FTA Quarterly/FTA-Quarterly-Agenda-150924.pdf#search=fta quarterly

in short the BLE has been credited with around $350 million in projects so far, its just under 5,000 housing units. The majority of these are in NoDa.

[SgtCampsalot]

 

 I rode down Brevard last night. Saw the framing for the steps up to 25th St station! 

[tozmervo]

Sugar Creek Pedestrian Bridge

Sugar Creek Parking Garade
UC Blvd Parking Garage
JW Clay Parking Garage

[southslider]

^The mile saved considers the path via the NCDOT grade separation. But since that isn't finished when BLE opens in 2017, this new ped bridge becomes the only real way to access the station from the Noda side of the tracks.

[archiham04]

Sugar Creek Pedestrian Bridge

Sugar Creek Parking Garade
UC Blvd Parking Garage
JW Clay Parking Garage

I have a lot of respect of neighboring concepts and their designs, but this design does not look like it will fare well in a low bid, value engineering (cost cutting) environment that these projects typically are submitted to eventually.

Edited October 14, 2015 by archiham04
added a comma

[SgtCampsalot]

I attended the first of this week's BLE public meetings. I discovered a few specifics:
- Between 12th St, and (either) 36th St or Sugar Creek, there will be no rail trail counterpart to South End's rail trail: I swear, it was like pulling teeth for the reps to understand what I meant. I kept getting referred back to the Cross-Charlotte Trail project. Apparently because of all the rail spurs criss-crossing that whole stretch, no rail trail was reasonable. Instead, there will be a cycle-track from the BLE at 12th St over to Brevard, and following Brevard to Parkwood's 12 ft path on the west side, which is supposed to continue until Brevard (second portion) meets with Jordan Place.

- The Matheson Bridge Streetscape will definitely be removing at least on GP lane, possibly putting a cycle-track on the Uptown side, and/or wide protected sidewalks on both sides: This project is technically part of the Cross-CLT Trail, which will wind from Brevard, to Jordan Place, over Matheson Bridge to the west, and down to the Sugar Creek greenway that will be implemented into that big proposed development. One thing was clear, they want the bridge to become a destination for people because of its skyline view.

- Parkwood is definitely keeping four GP car lanes: This bummed me out hard, but I understand technically. CDOT said it's too heavily trafficked. They're at least confident that a traffic light will be put at the intersection at 16th St right after the Caldwell Bridge (thank GOD... that hill!) as well as at the Parkwood/Brevard intersection in front of Parkwood Station, including painted crosswalks. They will also be putting in left turn lanes in each necessary spot (NOTE: The Parkwood Streetscape will only extend from 16th St to the N Davidson intersection. However, the Villa Heights, Belmont, OP neighborhood organizations are working with Sustain Charlotte to promote some kind of diet, or sidewalk widening, on the rest of Parkwood until it meets The Plaza)

I'll be attending the Parkwood Streetscape meeting at the Belmont Community Center next Thursday the 29th. We'll see how receptive they are to further measures to slow traffic (they said a 17th St or 18th St traffic light is unlikely, but possible if it's demanded by the public).

Edited October 14, 2015 by SgtCampsalot

[Matthew.Brendan]

Is there any context for where the Sugar Creek ped bridge will be? Will it be connecting Davidson to Raleigh?

[southslider]

^Connecting Bearwood near re-aligned Davidson to the station.

[kermit]

Contractors were working on the bridge over CSX tonight (Sunday) around 6pm.

Rail is in place (but not completely finished) between 7th and 11th. It looks like the ROW is ready for rail between 11th and the top of the ACWR bridge. It appears that no grading has been done from the ACWR bridge to 36th.

[Desert Power]

I attended the first of this week's BLE public meetings. I discovered a few specifics:
- Between 12th St, and (either) 36th St or Sugar Creek, there will be no rail trail counterpart to South End's rail trail: I swear, it was like pulling teeth for the reps to understand what I meant. I kept getting referred back to the Cross-Charlotte Trail project. Apparently because of all the rail spurs criss-crossing that whole stretch, no rail trail was reasonable. Instead, there will be a cycle-track from the BLE at 12th St over to Brevard, and following Brevard to Parkwood's 12 ft path on the west side, which is supposed to continue until Brevard (second portion) meets with Jordan Place.

- The Matheson Bridge Streetscape will definitely be removing at least on GP lane, possibly putting a cycle-track on the Uptown side, and/or wide protected sidewalks on both sides: This project is technically part of the Cross-CLT Trail, which will wind from Brevard, to Jordan Place, over Matheson Bridge to the west, and down to the Sugar Creek greenway that will be implemented into that big proposed development. One thing was clear, they want the bridge to become a destination for people because of its skyline view.

- Parkwood is definitely keeping four GP car lanes: This bummed me out hard, but I understand technically. CDOT said it's too heavily trafficked. They're at least confident that a traffic light will be put at the intersection at 16th St right after the Caldwell Bridge (thank GOD... that hill!) as well as at the Parkwood/Brevard intersection in front of Parkwood Station, including painted crosswalks. They will also be putting in left turn lanes in each necessary spot (NOTE: The Parkwood Streetscape will only extend from 16th St to the N Davidson intersection. However, the Villa Heights, Belmont, OP neighborhood organizations are working with Sustain Charlotte to promote some kind of diet, or sidewalk widening, on the rest of Parkwood until it meets The Plaza)

I'll be attending the Parkwood Streetscape meeting at the Belmont Community Center next Thursday the 29th. We'll see how receptive they are to further measures to slow traffic (they said a 17th St or 18th St traffic light is unlikely, but possible if it's demanded by the public).

Definitely need to keep Parkwood as 4 lanes as it is the main way into the NoDa area.

[tozmervo]

Access to NoDa isn't the issue as much as the volume of traffic Parkwood carries from NE Charlotte. Somewhere on this board an urban planeteer mentioned that it used to have convertible lanes ala 7th street. I think that would be a great option for Parkwood given it's commuting bias, 3 lanes with a center convertible lane. 

[tozmervo]

Couple of shots from 16th Street. I finally had 30 seconds to stop my car rushing from one place to the next.

[nonillogical]

So now I have no idea what was done along the lightrail behind Atherton Mill. As I posted in a few posts above it looked like they were extending the trail on that side from Publix to Tremont, but now they have re-sloped the dirt and planted grass, and there is no longer any room for a path (they'd have to build a retaining wall in order to put one in, and it would still be narrow). There is still some construction equipment around Publix where some seemingly reliable sources in the area had claimed the pedestrian crossing was definitely coming.

[southslider]

The mixed use redevelopment of Atherton will complete this trail gap.

[kermit]

Will UNCC students hogging the deck in University be an issue? I wonder if some students will literally leave their vehicles there days at a time?

Also, will any BLE stations in University be connected to their greenway?

I hope in all of this, University will have some wide sidewalks and Pedestrians islands

Sounds like exiting the JW Clay parking deck will require you to insert your lynx ticket or pass at the deck exit gate. Student parking is an issue that CATS is concerned about and is working to prevent it at JW Clay.

There will be a pedestrian bridge across N Tryon at the JW Clay station. The bridge will lead to an on campus conference center and hotel (although they are having trouble finding a hotel developer for the site).

 

 

[Third Strike]

Sounds like exiting the JW Clay parking deck will require you to insert your lynx ticket or pass at the deck exit gate. Student parking is an issue that CATS is concerned about and is working to prevent it at JW Clay.

There will be a pedestrian bridge across N Tryon at the JW Clay station. The bridge will lead to an on campus conference center and hotel (although they are having trouble finding a hotel developer for the site).

 

 

Any word on if they will do the same at the University City Boulevard deck? I bet most students wouldn't mind walking the extra mile or so.

[kermit]

I bet most students wouldn't mind walking the extra mile or so.

Seriously? You must know different undergraduates than I do. I can't imagine them walking that far even with a better pedestrian environment.

But in reference to your question, I did not hear anything about the U City deck.

Edited October 29, 2015 by kermit

[nmundo]

There seems to be a greenway sized path cut out from the greenway under the light rail bridge onto campus going on to the station. It looks like it'll be a pedestrian connection between the two but It may also just be a construction easement. 

[SgtCampsalot]

Contractors were working on the bridge over CSX tonight (Sunday) around 6pm.

Rail is in place (but not completely finished) between 7th and 11th. It looks like the ROW is ready for rail between 11th and the top of the ACWR bridge. It appears that no grading has been done from the ACWR bridge to 36th.

When I commuted to uncc, I'd park anywhere I could. I'd often bring my then-crappy mountain bike to make the trip from car to class. Students are scrappy scavengers.

[grodney]

Whoa, new seats on the 114 car!  I assume all others too, or coming soon.  Much needed....the old ones were getting a little janky.