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Lynx Blue Line (South Corridor)

monsoon

By monsoon
in Charlotte

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MZT Burg

MZT

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Posted

(bump)

The southbound traffic has been shifted to the new lanes. Funny to see the bus driver stop at the tracks like they're required to do... there won't be no train runnin' through there for at least a year...

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dubone Megalopolis

dubone

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Oh my gosh, that is so annoying. I wonder if they accounted for that in their traffic models :).

I noticed when I drove by the other day that they were painting lanes.

I'm sure we'll get news stories on how much more the Subway gets in business due to the improved access.

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Unifour Whistle-Stop

Unifour

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Wow, I am so excited for Charlotte. This is going to be a nice system. Light rail usually is nice, and somewhat easier to maintain since they don't have to worry about tunnels leaking, water damage, large underground complexes to collapse, etc. As Charlotte grows larger, I bet someday there will be a subway operating there.

I wonder if there is any hope that the north line will run to Statesville? I was a bit shocked that the system is so extensive. I had no idea.

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MZT Burg

MZT

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I wonder if there is any hope that the north line will run to Statesville? I was a bit shocked that the system is so extensive. I had no idea.

Extremely unlikely. Not impossible... but not worth hoping for.

Extending to Mooresville "someday" remains possible, but it's looking like it won't happen within the first phase of the North Line's construction.

Follow all the political factors in this thread:

North Line Discussion

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orulz City

orulz

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I've always thought of Trade Street as the most logical location for Charlotte's first subway. As more LRT lines and streetcar lines come online, the number of trains down Trade Street will increase, and as development picks up inside I-277, automotive traffic will probably increase as well. Eventually (decades from now) the city will reach a point where Trade gets too congested with LRT/streetcar/automotive traffic. When it reaches a point where the gridlock keeps buses and trains from making their schedules, someone will probably propose building a LRT subway under Trade. The way I envision it, the subway would be about 2 miles long, and stretch from I-77 to Independence.

LRT subways are not cheap, but they are cheaper than HRT subways, since there's no need for mezannines and gates. So, in the future, when Charlotte has a really strong CBD, I can see it happening. I don't think that anywhere else in the city will have enough density to warrant a subway, ever.

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Unifour Whistle-Stop

Unifour

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A subway is probably in the 2095 vision plan.

EDIT: Just thinking of it, but it'd be sweet if they dug tunnels under the current roads for the LRT, kind of like a subway?

And, also, a subway is not necessary for a city to be a "big" city or a world class city. All forms of alternate transportation, aside form the automobile/roads contribute to a city's status. Charlotte's LRT will be a large, advanced system, and it may take decades to finish, but it also took decades for Atlanta and Washington to complete thiers as well. Charlotte may never have a subway, but it won't matter and won't stop it from gaining status. What it needs is for Douglas airport to expand and grow, new trolley's and an extensive bus and train system, and it will have what it needs to be a global city. Actually, in some ways, Charlotte is already a global city, with the banking industry and corporate presence. I think the mistake some cities make, especially in the south where suburbs dominate, is making the downtown the focal point of it all. A large station or transit node is desireable, but since the people live in the suburbs, they need more cross transit between suburban developments. Why not have LRT running cross ways between suburbs, why must they always converge on the CBD? An example would be to run transit from Cornelius down through Huntersville and then maybe build a transit station in Huntersville with trains coming in from the Kannapolis/Concord area, and vice versa, having trains running from Huntersville to Concord, in addition to trains from Concord to Charlotte. Of course, I know next to nothing about how these things get built, and how difficult it would be to do them, but it certainly seems like they need to forget about bringing the suburbanites to downtown, when they neither work there nor live there. Perhaps it is altogether impossible, who knows, just a thought on my part.

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MZT Burg

MZT

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A large part of what made trains possible in the north and south corridors, is that there was existing rail right-of-way from obsolete freight traffic ready to be converted.

If there's no rail right of way between Concord and Cornelius now, then I can't fathom a commuter train appearing there for generations.

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Mobuchu Burg

Mobuchu

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Some pic updates from 4-23-06:

Top of Tyvola flyover, looking south

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North back toward Woodlawn bridge in distance

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Old Pineville is blocked off at South Blvd.

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Southbound South Blvd crossover at Scaleybark

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And the crossover at Clanton

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VMF...

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3030 S. Blvd finishing up

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And the intersection of E. Park Ave and Camden is shut down...

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4-23-06074.jpg

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swh1972 Hamlet

swh1972

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Awesome pictures.

I was walking around Uptown yesterday afternoon, and I passed by one of the "pork chop" areas next to the Arena, and it looked like they had a bunch of rebar, and pre-formed foundation cylindars stacked there. Does anyone know if this is going to be used for one of the Uptown rail stations? Perhaps the 7th street one? Are there any renderings of what all of the stations are going to look like?

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dubone Megalopolis

dubone

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I'm just speculating, but I'll bet it has something to do with the widening of the railroad bridges. They are adding ~10 feet to each side of each bridge (3rd, 4th, and Trade) in order to add stations and pedestrian connectivity. I'm pretty sure they're using pillars as part of that.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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There is a small article in today's paper on this subject. It really doesn't offer much more than what has already been posted here except that it's interesting if they have not done a cost effectiveness study for the line.

It's interesting they don't consider the street car plan part of the contention. Either the Observer doesn't realize this is another project contending for funds, or they think it will be funded by some other method.

While the Observer seems to indicate the North line is probably a shoein, I tend to agree with the local sentiment in the North that it will be more of a fight than that. McCroy's chest thumping is a good indication of that. I do believe there will be a lot of negative implications for not building the North line next including the fact that no other line can be built by 2010.

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revitalize Whistle-Stop

revitalize

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I went to the open house for Lynx yesterday, got some good info. I had my #1 question answered: How long will it take from the I-485 station to uptown center?.... answer: 23 min.

Works for me! the drive from Ballantyne has been about 1 hr every day this week... aaarrrgggghhh lets get this rail line up and running!!!!!!

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