Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[sakami]

Work continues at the intersection of Hawthorne Lane and E 8th Street. This intersection is supposed to be reopened on October 21. 

[King of the Queen City]

[Nathan2]

If only we could do this in Charlotte. The MTA replaced a rail bridge in one weekend. Meanwhile Hawthorne has taken years.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/4185477-mta-replaces-bridge-in-one-weekend/

[JacksonH]

2 hours ago, Nathan2 said:

If only we could do this in Charlotte. The MTA replaced a rail bridge in one weekend. Meanwhile Hawthorne has taken years.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/4185477-mta-replaces-bridge-in-one-weekend/

Yeah, but New York transit is way better funded than CATS.  There's an opportunity cost for everything.  Taxes make things like transit work more efficiently.  Charlotte is growing largely because of its low taxes.  People move to Charlotte for that reason.  But once they are there, they have to deal with the fact that things don't work as well and take longer to fix because there's not sufficient tax revenue to make those things happen.  And they whine and complain about it and talk about how much better it was in NY.  You have to choose your poison.  If you want reliability and good service, then you have to pay for it.

Edited October 10, 2019 by JacksonH

[Yeahdoug]

1 hour ago, JacksonH said:

Yeah, but New York transit is way better funded than CATS.  There's an opportunity cost for everything.  Taxes make things like transit work more efficiently.  Charlotte is growing largely because of its low taxes.  People move to Charlotte for that reason.  But once they are there, they have to deal with the fact that things don't work as well and take longer to fix because there's not sufficient tax revenue to make those things happen.  And they whine and complain about it and talk about how much better it was in NY.  You have to choose your poison.  If you want reliability and good service, then you have to pay for it.

It has to be cheaper to replace a bridge in one weekend than two years though.

[KJHburg]

photos of streetcar construction on West Trade today. 

[JacksonH]

1 hour ago, Yeahdoug said:

It has to be cheaper to replace a bridge in one weekend than two years though.

To be able to immediately jump on a project like replacing a bridge and getting it all done in a weekend, I would think there would need to be a construction staff already on hand (i.e., permanent workers) and always available to jump onto a project at a moment's notice.  It would also need to be very well staffed to do a job like that so quickly.  Having such a large, permanent staff would be a major resource that, again, requires ample funding.

[tozmervo]

3 hours ago, Yeahdoug said:

It has to be cheaper to replace a bridge in one weekend than two years though.

Make no mistake, that weekend probably took two years and hundreds of people to plan, execute, and construct.

[Desert Power]

3 hours ago, Yeahdoug said:

It has to be cheaper to replace a bridge in one weekend than two years though.

In terms of the economic cost of having the road closed for years, absolutely.  When you have to award a project to the lowest bidder, you just aren't going to get quality work.

[nakers2]

On 10/10/2019 at 10:11 AM, Nathan2 said:

If only we could do this in Charlotte. The MTA replaced a rail bridge in one weekend. Meanwhile Hawthorne has taken years.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/4185477-mta-replaces-bridge-in-one-weekend/

Demand drives the response more than anything. The toll lane project, for example, could've been completed much faster, but because the highway was able to function more or less the same while they were being built, there was a bit of a cushion to work with. I know it's not nearly as complex, but some of the major streets in and around Uptown have been resurfaced recently, unless you were up really late it's likely you didn't even know. Roadwork on 77 south can be put into that boat as well. Those roads are super high traffic, and therefore it's high priority to get those finished. When a fire caused the collapse of the 85 bridge in Atlanta, that project was completed in a few weeks, keep in mind that they not only had to build the bridge, but engineer it from scratch, it's not like it was planned to collapse (aside from what some conspiracy theorists will say.) I'd love Hawthorne to be finished sooner than later, but the reality is that in the grand scheme of the project, the bridge isn't holding anything up. The intent was for it to be done for road traffic asap, sure, but because of a royal screw up on the part of the contractor, we're left with a project that's a little out of order, and the RNC is not gonna help with that. 

[Yeahdoug]

22 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Make no mistake, that weekend probably took two years and hundreds of people to plan, execute, and construct.

For sure, most of the real work is done offsite. Like a modular home. 

[KJHburg]

drive by today at the Hawthorne Bridge two steel beams are  up.  My point and shoot camera barely caught the beam. 

Edited October 15, 2019 by KJHburg

[XRZ.ME]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pathb]

[Mgelbach]

Grabbed some pictures yesterday while stuck in the traffic jam on Independence

[kermit]

I was too slow with the camera but it appears that CATS now has three modern streetcar vehicles in town (half of the total).

#401 and #402 were both in the North Yard this morning. #402 has been here a little while, it just never registered with me since I never saw it beside #401 before today. Both have been in the testing process in the yard and shed. Behind them both was another vehicle still wrapped in its shipping plastic — I am assuming it’s #403. 

Edit: photos from the return trip. Second photo is #402 in foreground and #401 in back left.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2019 by kermit

[XRZ.ME]

Is the yard capable of storing a few extra train sets to improve Blue line capacity?

[kermit]

9 minutes ago, XRZ.ME said:

Is the yard capable of storing a few extra train sets to improve Blue line capacity?

Looks that way to me. 

To be fair, I usually pass by at peak when nearly all of the equipment is working, so the yard looks huge. But, I suspect the three tracks closest to the NS yard (where the streetcars are) are almost always empty. Three things could increase storage capacity further. First,  moving the streetcars to French st like they had originally planned would free up a large amount of space. Second, parking vehicles (four per track?) at 485 and UNCC Main at the end of the service day. I believe there is already a 24 hour security presence at both sites (not sure about 485). Finally, there is room to substantially expand storage capacity at the North Yard, there is space between the existing yard and NS on the North portion of the yard.

TLDR: there is plenty of room for more trains

Edited October 18, 2019 by kermit

[nicholas]

12 hours ago, kermit said:

I was too slow with the camera but it appears that CATS now has three modern streetcar vehicles in town (half of the total).

#401 and #402 were both in the North Yard this morning. #402 has been here a little while, it just never registered with me since I never saw it beside 401. Both have been in the testing process in the yard and shed. Behind them both was another vehicle still wrapped in plastic — I am assuming it’s #403. 

Edit: photos from the return trip. Second photo is #402 in foreground and #401 in back left.

 

 

I'll, uh, make sure not to do that.

[videtur quam contuor]

Common railroad yard term. Rail yards have a slight incline that cars are pushed over and then allowed to roll on to the backstop and trains are assembled thereupon. Bump one car or more at a time over the hump and it (they) roll until they hook onto the existing cars. When complete the locomotive pulls them onto the line. "Do Not Hump" signs are the most frequently stolen item in the railyard. Someone in my college dorm had one.

[NOLA2CLT]

Bridge progress this morning...was expecting a bit more done...but whatevs...counting down the days to be able walk to the other side again 

[lit]

18 hours ago, NOLA2CLT said:

Bridge progress this morning...was expecting a bit more done...but whatevs...counting down the days to be able walk to the other side again 

A great time/place for a block party right there, maybe the day before it opens to traffic. I hope you all can have a moment to celebrate the re-connection of your neighborhoods!

[nakers2]

5 hours ago, lit said:

A great time/place for a block party right there, maybe the day before it opens to traffic. I hope you all can have a moment to celebrate the re-connection of your neighborhoods!

One of the big reasons I moved to Plaza Midwood was because of the connection via Hawthorne, I knew the bridge would be out a little while, but I fear my lease may be almost up by the time it's complete, it really does feel so distant from Elizabeth even though I should be able to walk to CPCC from there!

[XRZ.ME]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elrodvt]

On 10/19/2019 at 9:48 AM, tarhoosier said:

Common railroad yard term. Rail yards have a slight incline that cars are pushed over and then allowed to roll on to the backstop and trains are assembled thereupon. Bump one car or more at a time over the hump and it (they) roll until they hook onto the existing cars. When complete the locomotive pulls them onto the line. "Do Not Hump" signs are the most frequently stolen item in the railyard. Someone in my college dorm had one.

I went to a huge humping yard in Nebraska. They had tours of the control tower. Really impressive operation.