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North Shore connector may not happen?

TheGerbil

By TheGerbil
in Pittsburgh

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TheGerbil Burg

TheGerbil

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I haven't seen anything in the paper about this, but according to this blog the project may be shot down. Scroll down to the entry that says "Word has it..."

Here is a quote:

This came up from a meeting tonight. It seems that PAT might hire a guy as a new executive -- and he does NOT like the idea of wasting all the money on the tunnel under the river.

Now I realize that many people think this project is wasteful. But my issue is, if we decide not to do it that federal money goes poof. We won't be able to simply use it for another project; it will be given to someone else. I do not like that very much. And will the government be willing to give us money later (for, say, expanding the T to Oakland) if they think we might back out at the last minute again?

I know some people will disagree, but I think it would be a bad idea to cancel the north shore connector.

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blueblackcat Whistle-Stop

blueblackcat

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Aren't the fed's already committed to the project? It would be a big damper on future projects (east busway conversion to some kind of rail, airport connections, oakland LRT) ability to get federal funds

Well, since this is just a rumor, so I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. I just don't see how PAT would actually hire someone just to kill everything that they've worked so hard for over the last few years. If someone is trying to stir things up I think they're doing it as a self-serving way to leverage whatever political power they have at the region's expense. It sounds like it would be a hijacking.

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UrbaniDesDev Whistle-Stop

UrbaniDesDev

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I'm hoping that with all the interest in downtown development streaming in, and now, with some real muscle behind it, more eyes will be on improving mass transit. I believe that all concerned with the development of the city now realise it can't continue without improved transit. I also think that the gas prices will keep pressure on for better system.

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PghUSA Town

PghUSA

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Yeah I agree with some sentiments on here, we might be giving this more attention then it deserves, until someone comes out with an official suggestion it is all pure speculation. Would be interesting with the Senate Election and local elections this November though, if they did indeed intend to pull the plug they may embargo this until after election day to keep it off the debate docket and damper any rage voting on its demise. Gotta love politics.

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TheGerbil Burg

TheGerbil

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Reviving this thread because of a conversation I just had with a coworker. I'm really wishing I knew the true facts about the North Shore connector.

I have always heard we'd lose the federal money if we cancelled the project now. But my coworker says we'd only lose some of it, the rest is some kind of flex funds. He also claims to have read somewhere that it will cost at least $8 million per year to maintain the connector once it is finished.

I've always been in favor of this project. I think it'll be more useful than people believe. But it is expensive, and I keep hearing conflicting facts.

What do you all think? Does anyone know of a good place to read the unbiased facts?

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blueblackcat Whistle-Stop

blueblackcat

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Reviving this thread because of a conversation I just had with a coworker. I'm really wishing I knew the true facts about the North Shore connector.

I have always heard we'd lose the federal money if we cancelled the project now. But my coworker says we'd only lose some of it, the rest is some kind of flex funds.

Either way, FTA grants will provide 60% of the funds that we will lose while Flex funds only make up 20% of the funding set aside for this.

He also claims to have read somewhere that it will cost at least $8 million per year to maintain the connector once it is finished.
If that is right, then with a projected 5.3 million riders per year, that would make it profitable.

I've always been in favor of this project. I think it'll be more useful than people believe. But it is expensive, and I keep hearing conflicting facts.

What do you all think? Does anyone know of a good place to read the unbiased facts?

Port Authority website? http://www.portauthority.org/grow/capital/northshore/faq.asp I think it has plenty enough facts to debate against the many nay-sayers who more often than not use very selective reasoning in their arguments.

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TheGerbil Burg

TheGerbil

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I figured he was a little off, but I didn't want to dismiss him outright without some facts. Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure about the percentage of flex funds. 20% isn't enough to do anything much if we lose the rest, that is for sure.

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blueblackcat Whistle-Stop

blueblackcat

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Does anyone get the feeling that the local media is doing a terrible job at keeping the public informed? We have this political righteousness going on where it's supposedly a good thing to kill project x because project y is more important without any realistic grasp of how the whole process works. The newspapers feel that their most important job is to cover what everyone's opinion is and which stance it happens to like best but there is absolutely nothing to inform the public of what's actually going on.

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TheGerbil Burg

TheGerbil

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Agree. I feel like all I have is second-hand info. I guess that is why I posted yesterday about wanting some actual facts.

And I do hate it when people create false dichotomies. E.g. "This project is a waste, they should be spending money on _____."

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