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Norfolk Light Rail and Transit


urbanvb

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I can't see why the cities do not see the benefits of linking up with LRT even if it only means linking to their shopping and entertainment districts. I would love to wake up on a sat. morning, start at greenbier, catch it to TC, then end up at DT or oyster point....It would be MAJOR for E-city and its surrounding counties to import people to this region since they shop and work here anyways.

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Due to cost, Maglev would be a harder sale than LR. And since it would doom it from getting done (and hence leave us with nothing), it's a cop-out. Apparently, the calls for something else suggest we think we know more than Charlotte, St. Louis, Seattle, NY, NJ, and tons of other cities and states around the country that want light rail.

Isn't our future worth a little extra? Instead of short changing ourselves now, then we will have something great.

Dubai is building indoor skislopes and other insanely great things.

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Isn't our future worth a little extra? Instead of short changing ourselves now, then we will have something great.

Dubai is building indoor skislopes and other insanely great things.

Indoor ski slopes are old hat. We have them in the U.S. too, ya know. What we don't have are islands shaped like palm trees!

Maglev would be great, but it's far from being on the market. It'll be years before it gets developed to the point that it is (A) the LPA anywhere and (B) receives any FTA New Starts $. It's tough enough to convince Feds that a proven transit technology would work here. Imagine asking them to finance an even bigger gamble!

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That's a point I've been meaning to make for a while. No system starts 100% complete. It has to start somewhere (as did the Metro in DC) and add as demand and resources grew.

As for McMullen, I'd like to see him take that same attitude about the poor up to DC. They have poor people too. But their Metro system works--extremely well. If he suggested there what he's saying here, they'd BBQ him.

Good point. I remember how the people in Georgetown balked when the city wanted to put a metro stop in G-Town. They didn't want the "bad" element coming to their part of town. So, they didn't get a stop. And guess what? They wish they had one now, because the other areas that got metro stops have become popular hotspots in the city. It is practically impossible to get into G-Town and find parking. I used to just go to Foggy Bottom, Downtown, Adams Morgan or Dupont Circle instead. The metro stops in DC almost always spurred some type of growth in the surrounding area. I mean, honestly, the idea of someone using Light Rail or the Metro to pull off a crime is silly. I can just imagine a guy sitting on the light rail tran with a flat screen TV in his arms as he tries to act like nothing strange is going on.

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Wow! Looking over on 264 today I noticed this sucker is really starting to come together. The light rail bridge is right up against the freeway and it's gonna be quite a sight to see some train fly by you while you're stuck in traffic. If that's not good marketing, I don't know what is. :)

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Wow! Looking over on 264 today I noticed this sucker is really starting to come together. The light rail bridge is right up against the freeway and it's gonna be quite a sight to see some train fly by you while you're stuck in traffic. If that's not good marketing, I don't know what is. :)

That's funny because everytime I got buy that, I see no one there; yet, there seems to be a lot of progress. they must be like to underwear gnomes, working at night.

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I'm sorry if this has already been posted. I've looked several pages back. I think its old...everything is expressed in 2006 dollars, but I cant seem to find any other renderings of most of the line. If someone has something more up-to-date, will you please post it??

Norfolk Light Rail Planning and Environmental Impact

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......

I think light rail is redeployment of a system of the past, and not forward looking. I think elevated maglev is a forward looking technology. It's close to working, it doesn't obstruct traffic, there isn't friction to wear down parts, it's quiet. and it's not like old trolleys......

Maglev is totally unsuitable for in city transit which is what light rail addresses. It's an insanely expensive solution and is only possibly justified in situations where you can use it at full speed (and even then its benefits are questionable) And when it is operated at these speeds it makes the same noise as a jet aircraft which, at ground level, means it can only be used in fairly remote situations.

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Had Norfolk proposed using anything like Maglev for a transit system it would probably have been very cost prohibitive and probably jeapardized federal funding which is paying for most of this project. I've seen pictures of the light rail construction around Norfolk State is there any work being done around the Kirn Library, Plume St. or Monticello Ave?

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I think light rail is redeployment of a system of the past, and not forward looking. I think elevated maglev is a forward looking technology. It's close to working, it doesn't obstruct traffic, there isn't friction to wear down parts, it's quiet. and it's not like old trolleys.

There is only one low speed urban transit Maglev (which is what you favor) in the world -- Nagoya, Japan. Originally built for (and justified by) the World Expo in 2005, there hasn't been a single other example even hit the final plan stages. Why? Cost. $160M/mile, or about $1.15B to build the starter segment of the Tide. Germany had proposed a Maglev line from the Munich Hauptbahnhof to the airport, but cancelled it last month when the cost ballooned from 1.8B Euros ($2.7B) to over 3B euros.

A maglev Tide would have never been funded-- federal, state, or local. Dreaming is great -- sometimes, it is a flattering form of procrastination. *** in one hand, wish in the other, and see which one fills up first. $4/gallon gas demands solutions sooner rather than later.

Edited by scm
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There is only one low speed urban transit Maglev (which is what you favor) in the world -- Nagoya, Japan. Originally built for (and justified by) the World Expo in 2005, there hasn't been a single other example even hit the final plan stages. Why? Cost. $160M/mile, or about $1.15B to build the starter segment of the Tide. Germany had proposed a Maglev line from the Munich Hauptbahnhof to the airport, but cancelled it last month when the cost ballooned from 1.8B Euros ($2.7B) to over 3B euros.

A maglev Tide would have never been funded-- federal, state, or local. Dreaming is great -- sometimes, it is a flattering form of procrastination. *** in one hand, wish in the other, and see which one fills up first. $4/gallon gas demands solutions sooner rather than later.

How about the Shanghai Airport Connector? Isn't that meglev?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't know if you guys saw this, but if you read the comments from Henry Ryto, it sounds like something may be announced soon. God I hope so, I would love to see the LR at Ward's Corner!

http://wardscornernow.com/2008/06/06/task-...l-presentation/

My name gets invoked again. :whistling: If you read that blog's previous post on it (scroll back further), it's to talk about extending LRT north. I plan to go Thursday morning.

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Henry, I hope you didn't mind me posting that here. I want to attend the meeting, but I cannot because of work conflict. I just got very excited by the very mention of the idea. I live in Sussex, so LR coming through Ward's Corner would be the best news I have had since I bought my house :rolleyes:

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Henry, I hope you didn't mind me posting that here. I want to attend the meeting, but I cannot because of work conflict. I just got very excited by the very mention of the idea. I live in Sussex, so LR coming through Ward's Corner would be the best news I have had since I bought my house :rolleyes:

Holy mackarel! Could we really see LR from NOB to the oceanfront, sooner than later? Get on board, VB!

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Oceanfront to WC and the base would be a dream. The only thing that could make it better would be to connect it to the Amtrak station in NN, but I am not holding my breath on that one. I always hate driving all the way to NN to catch a train. At least having the LR further developed on the Southside would help temendously. I hope that it is an announcement for WC and the base!

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Scott, Ya know Amtrak has shuttle services from areas around Hampton Roads to the Newport News station. Robin and I were looking to take the train to New York instead of driving and saw that they have a shuttle stop at the oceanfront.

Rail to the peninsula would be great, but I'm just sayin' in case you didn't know. :)

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Scott, Ya know Amtrak has shuttle services from areas around Hampton Roads to the Newport News station. Robin and I were looking to take the train to New York instead of driving and saw that they have a shuttle stop at the oceanfront.

Rail to the peninsula would be great, but I'm just sayin' in case you didn't know. :)

When (and IF) rail upgrade is completed on CSX, a new Amtrak station in Newport News will be part of the project. Years ago it was directly on the water in downtown N/N. There was a ferry connection to Norfolk. Location of the proposed new depot has not been announced, but if the old site were used it would be neat to have hydrofoils skimming across Hampton Roads to a light rail connection in the Willoughby Spit/Ocean View area, thence onward to the new cruise terminal. :)

Edited by burt
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WOW - intelligent and thoughtful commentary on an article regarding any sort of urban development? I bet a few UP forumers had a role in that haha.

Very exciting news though :). Some TOD's along that rail line and it could definitely become a viable, integral part of our transportation network :). Imagine what could happen around VBTC and elsewhere. . . .

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