MultiModal Money

[goodbye]

Wow, there is an interesting ARTICLE IN TODAY'S GREENVILLE NEWS about the City receiving $1 million as part of a federal transportation bill that just passed in Congress. This money is intended to be used to build a multimodal in downtown, but it appears that City officials had put the idea on the backburner. I think the subject will become a much more prominent buzz in the near future. The bus station will be moved into that multimodal (probably somewhere on West Washington Street) and that large chunk of the Washington/McBee/Richardson block will become the most prime piece of land for development in the CBD.

[gvillenative]

Ok, brace yourself for a stupid question, by multimodal does that mean that they are planning ahead for maybe the introduction of light rail in the near future? I realize that the bus station will be there, but to be multimodal that means more than one mode of transportation, correct?

[Spartan]

Yes. Short for multiple modes of transit. That is great news, because this can only mean LRT

[gs3]

Wow, there is an interesting ARTICLE IN TODAY'S GREENVILLE NEWS about the City receiving $1 million as part of a federal transportation bill that just passed in Congress.  This money is intended to be used to build a multimodal in downtown, but it appears that City officials had put the idea on the backburner.  I think the subject will become a much more prominent buzz in the near future.  The bus station will be moved into that multimodal (probably somewhere on West Washington Street) and that large chunk of the Washington/McBee/Richardson block will become the most prime piece of land for development in the CBD.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The block that will be vacated by the bus station / transit center currently is almost exactly the center of downtown. Can you all see a signature tower on this piece of property? Could be spectacular!

[RestedTraveler]

Can you all see a signature tower on this piece of property? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yes, I can envison it ... yes, indeed!!

[jarvismj]

I think what will happen is that they will construct the station, usually with space for Amtrak, and Greyhound. Knox wants to move the GTA transfer facility to this new station. I can see them designing a part that is expandable to LRT, kind of like Orlando airport has an extra people mover station, with a viaduct, but no tracks and a sealed up station. Anyways, we can only hope that whomever designs the Amtrak part of the station, that they put in high platforms, and also make the station astheticly pleasing to the area that it will go in, with what I'm thinking is that West Washington is a toss up between the historic district, or the gritty industrial area around the rail yard.

[Greenville]

This sounds so exciting!! I can only hope that light rail is in the long-term plans.

Could this also be a station for the east coast commuter rail from Atlanta, to Greenville, to Charlotte, etc., connecting all the way through DC to NYC? If so, it would seem like a great place to have that. I would think that such a rail would want to stop in downtown Greenville if possible, even if that meant them building a spur line underground. Thoughts?

[goodbye]

Actually it has been the intention of the City to have a multimodal downtown for quite a long while now. Yes, it would be a part of the Southeast regional LRT and would most likely stop in Greenville - especially if our tax dollars are going to be used to help build it. I saw a beautiful rendering of a multimodal concept for downtown quite a while back and it seemed like a "massive" building with monorail included. It may have been an idea which could be built in phases as needed. I'll dig it up and post it later. B)

[Greenville]

I look forward to seeing that, Skyliner. Sounds really interesting! I wonder how far in the future this would be? Are we talking a year or two from now? 5 years? 20 years?

[Spartan]

I think you mean the SE HSR. THought Greenville is definately plannign for LRT in the future.

I have a question though- Have you guys ever heard of trails to rails? I wonder if people will be willing to give up these trails that we are making for a transit line.

[RestedTraveler]

I think you mean the SE HSR. THought Greenville is definately plannign for LRT in the future.

I have a question though- Have you guys ever heard of trails to rails? I wonder if people will be willing to give up these trails that we are making for a transit line.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe the vision for the North Greenville Line Trail, if it's not de-railed (no pun intended), is for both to potentially exist side by side where the right-of-way is wide enough and to use utility rights-of-way to loop out and back where the rail right-of-way isn't wide enough.

[csedwards72]

Interesting- the bus station was built in the 1980s, filling in a former parking lot; it's a prime location for a future transit station. Maybe the city can focus on redeveloping all of the parking lots downtown, especially the ones east of Main Street, instead?

[goodbye]

Everyone, I'll get that rendering up soon. I've been swamped this week (as usual) and haven't had a moment to look for it yet. I'll try to have it by the end of this week or Monday next.

[goodbye]

And FINALLY, I get around to posting the scan from the Vision 2025 brochure. This would be incredible for downtown!

Vision 2025 brochure

Ben Rook, Architect

[RestedTraveler]

Now that's something that ANY city would be proud of. I can see this happening, but only if we want it badly enough.

[goodbye]

Well this man designed the Michelin North America headquarters, and was called upon initially to design ICAR, so I'm sure he's done more than doodle around on this place. This is a tremendous concept for a centralized transit hub.

[RestedTraveler]

If I recall from the Vision 2025 document, this is intended as a regional multi-modal hub operated by a regional transit authority (Upstate). Is that correct?

[GvilleSC]

Well this man designed the Michelin North America headquarters, and was called upon initially to design ICAR, so I'm sure he's done more than doodle around on this place. This is a tremendous concept for a centralized transit hub.

I was about to comment on its resemblence to Michelin's HQ. This would be great for sure.

I'd like to see the city begin pushing this. Hopefully a revamping of the bus system will increase ridership and the new trolley system downtown will lead to this and really stir up momentum.

[goodbye]

There will be a new high-speed interstate rail system that stops in downtown at the multi-modal station. A north/south mass transit system that connects Travelers Rest to Fountain Inn, through Furman, downtown Greenville, CU-ICAR, Mauldin, and Simpsonville. An east/west mass transit system connects Spartanburg, GSP International Airport, Greenville, Easley, and Clemson. Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson will coordinate a 20-year plan through an Upstate Transportation Authority. The result, is a transportation system that includes roads, mass transit, aviation and rail, as well as accommodations for cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians.

Almost word-for-word from the document itself.

[Greenville]

I hope we can make this a reality. It will take a lot of money, good publicity, and some excellent convincing, however.

[NYTransplant]

There will be a new high-speed interstate rail system that stops in downtown at the multi-modal station. A north/south mass transit system that connects Travelers Rest to Fountain Inn, through Furman, downtown Greenville, CU-ICAR, Mauldin, and Simpsonville. An east/west mass transit system connects Spartanburg, GSP International Airport, Greenville, Easley, and Clemson. Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson will coordinate a 20-year plan through an Upstate Transportation Authority. The result, is a transportation system that includes roads, mass transit, aviation and rail, as well as accommodations for cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians.

Almost word-for-word from the document itself.

That sounds great, but even now that we have the multi-modal money, I'm not hearing about any plans for rail, be it high-speed or light.

Has any planning been going on behind the scenes?

[goodbye]

Absolutely. The Southeast High-speed Rail Corridor (?) is a study to find the best methods of obtaining old abandoned lines to connect several cities between DC to Atlanta. In Greenville, there is a study in place to determine the best use of the abandoned lines running north/south through ICAR. This has been one of the hopes for many years. There are several websites out there to show these plans.

[EDPro]

Absolutely. The Southeast High-speed Rail Corridor (?) is a study to find the best methods of obtaining old abandoned lines to connect several cities between DC to Atlanta. In Greenville, there is a study in place to determine the best use of the abandoned lines running north/south through ICAR. This has been one of the hopes for many years. There are several websites out there to show these plans.

For more information on the high-speed rail part of the 'mulit-modal':

www.sehsr.org

and

www.southeastalliance.com

As I understand it, Pat Haskell-Robinson has long been the local champion of high speed rail.

My personal thoughts would be that if it is truely "high speed", would you really want 2 stops in the Upstate? I'm guessing not, so then should the one stop be in downtown Greenville or at GSP airport? Again, the emphasis should be on multimodal, which location gives best access to surrounding population centers via bus, light rail, taxi, etc.

[goodbye]

If only one stop were to be included in this regional line, it would make most sense to build a large multimodal at GSP, since you have the airline transportation coming and going there. I think there is a seperate plan perhaps to link the Upstate cities east/west though, so maybe downtown is not such a bad location. It is the business, cultural, and shopping hub of the region afterall.

[NYTransplant]

Thanks guys.

I guess this is the stuff not making headlines. (or at least I'm missing it). Glad to hear there is some planning going on.

I would agree with EDPro. Only one stop would be needed in the upstate. Initially, I thought downtown Greenville to be the logical choice. If a business traveler were going to Charlotte or Atlanta, they would not be flying into GSP to begin with. On the other hand, being at GSP would allow the other forms of ground transportation to service both the Air and HS Rail traffic simultaneously.