Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[LKN704]

I haven't been on the LRT in a while so I assumed that these elements were already there.

First off, and a little off topic for this particular thread, remove the "cityLYNX" branding. Just say Lynx Gold Line. LYNX is an integrated system that interacts with the other services CATS provides. The Lynx Gold Line and Blue line interact with each other, and just as the Blue Line links the University and NoDa with Uptown, the Southend, and South Charlotte towards Pineville, the Gold Line will link those from the Blue Line to points throughout uptown, BofA Stadium, CPCC, and a major hospital.

It is kind of embarrassing that there is no announcement and information about the connection. I wonder how many passengers are lost simply because they are un-informed. All you need is a map and a simple "The next stop is Charlotte Transportation Center and Arena Station. Interchange station for the Lynx Gold Line. Change here for CATS Buses. Please check the schedules for available service."

[15895]

I wonder if the extension will be more successful than the current blue line.

I ask because I feel like the extension will be a part of a nicer middle class community and seems to me that it will be a neighborhood center piece and something to build around unlike the current line once you pass SouthEnd

[SgtCampsalot]

Y3ah, the BLE will not only be going through more actual residential neighborhoods (not just n davidson st, but old concord, rocky river rd w, etc. Plus, it will be a network. Instead of doubling the possibilities, it will EXPONENTIALLY increase what you can do with the system. It'll be a serious model for the southeast (for a while, unless we don't implement anything else for a decade)

[Deleted.]

First off, and a little off topic for this particular thread, remove the "cityLYNX" branding. Just say Lynx Gold Line. LYNX is an integrated system that interacts with the other services CATS provides.

I prefer CityLYNX over Lynx. Anyway it distinguishes the streetcar from light rail. Lynx for dedicated ROW 5+ mile rail system and CityLYNX for the shorter in-traffic streetcar which is meant to be an urban circulator. 

[Spartan]

I have to agree with LKN704. "LYNX" is supposed to be the common branding for fixed-route transit, regardless of specific mode (LRT, Streetcar, BRT, commuter rail, etc). The Red Line is supposed to be commuter rail, but it won't have special branding.  When the system is built out, you'll have the LYNX Blue Line, Silver Line, Red Line and CityLYNX Gold Line. Only one of those things is not like the other. The only reason they did it that way is because the City paid for it, not the MTC.

[Deleted.]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article44347581.html

Lynx trains only operated between I-485 and Scaleybark today and yesterday becuase of the BLCE project. Pardon my ignorance, but what does the BLCE project involve? 

[SgtCampsalot]

Probably Blue Line Capacity Extension. Expanding the platforms to fit 3-car trains.

[kermit]

They were working on the tracks again on Sunday (the workers are tough to make out in this photo). In addition to setting rails beneath 277 they were also painting the bridge supports sky blue (which you can see on the right side support). Nice touch.

[SgtCampsalot]

So, I haven't been able to confirm with anybody: The rail trail WILL be running underneath 277 before it gets to 12th St? At least one of those sides has enough room.

[southslider]

^Yes, under both the 11th St and Brookshire Freeway bridges, but then, the rail trail ends at 12th.  An "overland connector" is planned along Brevard between 12th and Parkwood, but to be built separately from the BLE construction.

[Deleted.]

I genuinely can not wait for the BLE to open! Hopefully it will bring development to north east CLT, especially to N. Tryon but also southern end of NoDa and I guess North End. These areas I personally believe they need a boost like South End needed before LRT. 

[dubone]

Makes sense about the shift to Brevard/Parkwood/Brevard as long as it is an enhanced sidewalk and not just on a map only.  The LSCG "overland connector" in Myers Park barely has an improved sidewalk.  Hopefully because this is expected to be a density TOD corridor that they'll go ahead and at least provide a wide sidewalk.   

 

 

[SgtCampsalot]

3 minutes ago, dubone said:

Makes sense about the shift to Brevard/Parkwood/Brevard as long as it is an enhanced sidewalk and not just on a map only.  The LSCG "overland connector" in Myers Park barely has an improved sidewalk.  Hopefully because this is expected to be a density TOD corridor that they'll go ahead and at least provide a wide sidewalk.   

Well, the cycle track from 12th to Brevard should be signalized/visible pretty well. The first portion of Brevard won't have anything but a Bike symbol painted on the street, but that's a very low traffic road, so it shouldn't be a problem. The Parkwood/Brevard (2nd part) 12 ft multi-use path should function very well, I just hope they take away the grass planter strips (but keep the trees) to make it a 20 ft path throughout.

[HopHead]

I don't want to steer this off topic too much, but I was up in Northern VA last week on business in the Tyson's Corner area (talk about gridlock). They have recently expanded the Metro up there to Tyson's corner -- I believe that's their Silver line. As I was going past it, you couldn't help but notice all the car dealerships, shopping centers and gas stations that surrounded several of the stations. Sounds a little familiar to our complaints here about the BLE in certain areas. 

Edited November 24, 2015 by HopHead

[SgtCampsalot]

42 minutes ago, HopHead said:

I don't want to steer this off topic too much, but I was up in Northern VA last week on business in the Tyson's Corner area (talk about gridlock). They have recently expanded the Metro up there to Tyson's corner -- I believe that's their Silver line. As I was going past it, you couldn't help but notice all the car dealerships, shopping centers and gas stations that surrounded several of the stations. Sounds a little familiar to our complaints here about the BLE in certain areas. 

Oh man, Tyson's Corner? I've read quite a few articles about that: famous for its sprawl and bad land-use, really took off after WWII. There are a couple developers eyeing potential sites for urban infill that want to retrofit it completely. The metro extension was the necessary component before they wanted to invest. Interesting to see how that suburban retrofit works.

[Deleted.]

1 hour ago, HopHead said:

I don't want to steer this off topic too much, but I was up in Northern VA last week on business in the Tyson's Corner area (talk about gridlock). They have recently expanded the Metro up there to Tyson's corner -- I believe that's their Silver line. As I was going past it, you couldn't help but notice all the car dealerships, shopping centers and gas stations that surrounded several of the stations. Sounds a little familiar to our complaints here about the BLE in certain areas. 

Well, hopefully the BLE will bring development to the areas and turn it from car dealerships to SouthEnd. 

[Third Strike]

Is there a reason why there isn't a station planned between the 9th Street Station and the Parkwood Station? Especially one next to Alpha Mills? North End would have benefited a lot from such a station.

[kermit]

 

2 hours ago, Third Strike said:

Is there a reason why there isn't a station planned between the 9th Street Station and the Parkwood Station? Especially one next to Alpha Mills? North End would have benefited a lot from such a station.

Yup. The location of the bridge over the CSX made it impossible to have a station that is a useful distance from 9th or Parkwood. You can't build a level-boarding station on a slope. The CSX bridge begins to rise immediately after 277 and 12th st (three blocks from 9th) and does not return to grade until just before 16th st (about 2 blocks from Parkwood).

I wondered about this in the past and Southsider was the original source of this info (tip of the hat).

Edited November 27, 2015 by kermit

[SgtCampsalot]

Another reason given by some cats engineer was that it would serve more people at parkwood than 16th St, only OP. But a N Tryon connection would've been nice.

[Deleted.]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article46779765.html

There's always something wrong when CATS constructs something. 

[southslider]

^If only Charlotte had been allowed to build the original Blue Line for 3-car trains, but the Feds went for the more conservatively modeled ridership. Saved some cost then, but costing much more now to retrofit.

[Matthew.Brendan]

2 hours ago, southslider said:

Saved some cost then, but costing much more now to retrofit.

Same thing we'll be saying whenever they eventually run the Silver line down Independence.... Implement it now while they're doing major renovation? Naw we'll just do it again after the initial work is completed at twice the time and 5x the cost. Brilliant!

[Deleted.]

7 hours ago, southslider said:

^If only Charlotte had been allowed to build the original Blue Line for 3-car trains, but the Feds went for the more conservatively modeled ridership. Saved some cost then, but costing much more now to retrofit.

What exactly are 3-car trains? I thought there already are 3-car trains, then 2 trains coupled together. Or is a 3-car train, 3 seperate trains coupled together?  

[kermit]

Its three vehicles coupled together. The Blue Line is currently limited to two vehicle trains. Here is a three car train in Denver:

While this upgrade will certainly be helpful on game days I really do think it would have been better (and possibly cheaper)  to run additional frequencies instead of increasing capacity. Shrug...

Edited November 29, 2015 by kermit

[kermit]

9th street is FINALLY open again. It had been closed for nearly a year