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Raleigh Union Station


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I'm sure it will serve its purpose well as an Amtrak station throughout its useful life. It will definitely be better than the current station. I would just like to see something grand built in Raleigh, and it doesn't get much more grand than the union station concept.

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I'm sure it will serve its purpose well as an Amtrak station throughout its useful life. It will definitely be better than the current station. I would just like to see something grand built in Raleigh, and it doesn't get much more grand than the union station concept.

Well, just because it's being repurposed, doesn't mean it can't be grand.. It could easily be redone with about 7 shops, 3 eateries, a Grand First Class Lounge, a triple platform, a grand foyer with terrazo flooring with acorns/oak trees/etc on it.. and a redone entrance with colonial columns and such.. maybe a Tobacco Road store, a Hurricane shop, and a Carolinas Amtrak store selling t-shirts/trains/patches/books/etc for the rail enthusiastics/kids, etc..

Repurpose does not mean trailer-trash..

Now, what actually happens is a totally different thing..

One thing I REALLY, REALLY want to see is for RGH station to have a website that similar to RDU that shows when trains are arriving or scheduled to depart, news updates, terminal layouts, and links to the shops..

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The new plan actually makes more of a case to produce two rail stations in Raleigh--the NETC and the downtown location. Since the Seaboard Station is already occupied and would be unfit to accomodate dozens of trains, a new permanent downtown station would be just fine, but even that would have to be downscaled as opposed to last year's Union Station scheme. The latest plan would preclude a bus hub composed of Greyhound and TTA buses.

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I think the need to service State government is over emphasized. Its two blocks down Jones from Harrington to Salisbury. Green Square is even closer. I think I like D2 since it splits Glenwood and the CBD down the middle using a street (Harrington) that has no through traffic. Is it possible to run a spur out New Bern later to Wake Med? That would get the service farther east eventually. Does D2 close any streets or is that just high speed rail?

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  • 6 months later...

Does anyone have an opinion of the states new idea for Union Station? The Viaduct building will start the process as an Amtrak station?

I like it. I just wish they would add a 7-10 story hotel on top.. Something like a W or Hotel Indigo or something like that.. And I'm not sure I see the First Class lounge that the current station has...

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I don't think a train station could ever be the reason to locate a hotel somewhere in this city. Maybe say where Buffalo Tire is, so its within sight distance of both the Convention Center (the real reason we need hotels) and the train station.

I think this option is very good if say the West Street connection is done at the same time. Its not just about traveling to the City but getting around in it after wards, and with West connected, the station isn't just stuffed down in a corner with only one way out by other modes.

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I don't think a train station could ever be the reason to locate a hotel somewhere in this city. Maybe say where Buffalo Tire is, so its within sight distance of both the Convention Center (the real reason we need hotels) and the train station.

I think this option is very good if say the West Street connection is done at the same time. Its not just about traveling to the City but getting around in it after wards, and with West connected, the station isn't just stuffed down in a corner with only one way out by other modes.

I believe some of the best accomodation options are those that are at multimodal locations. The Hilton at ORD is by far one of the most popular hotels because it is at hte airport. I think the convenience of having a hotel at the trainstation which is within walking distance of the convention center, restaurants, shops, and downtown would be benificial and make more the additional hotel rooms that Raleigh downtown needs. Plus having something like "Westin at Union Station" would be awesome.

Just a thought.

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It's certainly a tempting thought. I have long wanted to see the warehouse area sort of faux-ed up with fake gas lamps (or real ones) and more cobble stone streets or maybe cobbled crosswalks to sort of mold it into a destination area. CAM is part of the destination label too of course. So with that in mind, any destination needs a hotel. As the transportation outlet into the city, the idea seems even better. Ok, I talked myself into it..:)

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  • 1 month later...

This past week, the city of Raleigh voted to apply for a TIGER grant for Union Station. The total estimated cost is $70 million, and would include:

-Dillon Viaduct Building renovation

-Tracks, platforms, and connecting tunnels for the H-line platforms for Commuter/Intercity rail

-West Street extension

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Up to this point, I had missed the West St extension in each of the plans. So is this a tunnel?

Also, looking at the City's 11/14/11 report update on the project, it shows the proposed LRT station (from alignment D6) on Morgan Street, but not connected to the Future Large-Scale Union Station (from Morgan to Martin). Instead, the LRT station is on Morgan between Glenwood and Boylan. Hmmm, thats quite a walk from Amtrak platform.

And is it still in the plans for the entire Union Station to extend from Morgan to Martin, eventually? Dillon Viaduct renovation is just for Amtrak and possibly commuter rail, correct? No provisions for Greyhound, city/regional bus, high-speed rail, or LRT yet?

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The preferred route for the West Street Extension is a tunnel under the tracks, dipping down starting at West & Martin and coming back up at West & Cabarrus. A connection to South Saunders was considered but turned down. The city eventually wants to connect West up to South Saunders street, which I would guess will probably happen whenever Heritage Park is rebuilt, which probably won't be too long. It's a stick built low income apartment complex that's almost 40 years old, and is really showing its age.

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Heritage Park is the last downtown housing project (100% low income). Its creation removed several streets and older homes in the area. I would not lose any sleep over a Chavis/Halifax style remake with fewer actual units on this site and others scattered around the city as replacements. At one time I saw a plan calling for Lake Wheeler Road to run continuously onto South Street heading east. I guess the West Street tunnel (if that is what goes forward) changes that. Whatever the plan, the preservation of the newly coming together neighborhood in the area comprising Lenoir and one lane South Saunders should be foremost in consideration.

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Getting off topic here, but Heritage Park should be remade as a large multistory apartment complex, even including some retail/mixed use. It should have an affordable component and a market rate component. Include at least as many affordable units as are there now, plus market rate rentals. Glen Rock Depot in Asheville comes to mind as a successful, recent, multi-story, mixed use, mixed-income development. Only, for Heritage Park, think bigger

Currently it's 122 units on 12.2 acres, exactly 10 du/acre, which is only half of even its currently zoned density of R-20. It should really be added to the downtown overlay district and zoned for something much more dense and with much better urban form, given its proximity to downtown and the future Union Station.

I think the area between downtown and Boylan Heights is destined for further gentrification and this would be a huge step in that direction.

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So the city applied for federal funding... what happens next? When do we hear if we receive funding? Does the design phase start then or is it already underway with the city's portion of the bill? I guess the question I'm really getting at is, when will we see actual progress in the form of construction?

(Sorry, over the years, Raleigh has taught me to "believe it when I see it" - just too many projects falling through)

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^ The deadline for the TIGER III program is March 19. The DOT renders decisions on these grants quickly (in federal time) -- certainly before the DNC. Judging by NC's status as a swing state and the administration's fondness for rail I would say Raleigh has a better than average chance to land the cash.

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From the description it sounds like Raleigh is proposing for a federal grant to cover 80% of a $70 million project. That's $56 million. For comparison, not a single TIGER grant awarded in 2011 was higher than $20 million. You have to go back to 2009 to find a TIGER grant that big, and there was a lot more money available for TIGER in that year. I see it as extremely unlikely that the entire project will be funded.

I suppose it's possible that Raleigh will get funding for one part of the project. There are three components, each of which could be mostly or completely built with $20 million TIGER funds plus the required $5 million (20%) local match.

(1) Track reconfiguration & new NCRR platform

(2) Viaduct building conversion to station

(3) West Street Extension

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According to today's City Council Agenda: NCDOT proposed the following funding distribution:

  • Station development: 80% federal, 10% state, 10% city
  • Rail/track/platform improvements: 80% federal, 20% state
  • Street improvements: 80% federal, 20% city

And then this brings the City's share of the project cost to ~$7 million ($4 million more than the $3 mil from the bond just passed).

The agenda also mentions "Triangle Transit has committed to being a partner in the application process, but is not in a position to offer a specific financial contribution at this time."

The uncertainty of our application worries me - especially with the history orulz provided.

Our current proposal doesn't even address future expansion and integration with all the TTA buildings. If only we had the funds and foresight to pull off a Union Station development similar to Denver's under construction right now.

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This is the kind of development we need above the wye.

http://www.burnhamplace.com/index.html (Burnham Place proposed at DC Union Station)

Would connect the street grid for walkability between districts separated by the tracks. Would provide usable space where there currently is none, both for mid- to high-rise buildings and also for open/park space. Maybe there are complicating factors since there is active freight traffic on these tracks - but there are engineered solutions to solve that. The major factors preventing a large-scale development like this are just shortsightedness and lack of ambition.

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This is the kind of development we need above the wye.

http://www.burnhamplace.com/index.html (Burnham Place proposed at DC Union Station)

Would connect the street grid for walkability between districts separated by the tracks. Would provide usable space where there currently is none, both for mid- to high-rise buildings and also for open/park space. Maybe there are complicating factors since there is active freight traffic on these tracks - but there are engineered solutions to solve that. The major factors preventing a large-scale development like this are just shortsightedness and lack of ambition.

There is a serious lack of buildable land in downtown DC. Office rents are astronomical - higher than anywhere else in the country except the most expensive parts of Midtown Manhattan. Land values are way, way higher than in Raleigh. Union Station, in particular, is about two or three minutes walk from all the senate offices and and about a half mile from the house offices, in other words: heaven for lobbyists, who have notoriously deep pockets. Even so, Burnham Place has been in the works since 2002 - that's a decade now - and continues to struggle to get off the ground.

So therefore, I would add a third item to your list of what is preventing something like that from being built in Raleigh: financial feasibility.

I have nothing wrong with planning for something like that to be built at Union Station in Raleigh in the future, but I'm pretty sure we won't see anything of the sort here for at least the next 25 years, probably 50.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yesterday, the City, NCDOT, and TTA applied for TIGER funding for the first phase of the Union Station project. Announcement of decision is likely this fall.

There are 2 renderings in the City's press release on their website that I haven't seen before. However, they are very small. Any idea where to find larger images? (and more images?)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought I would share this http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16409862/UnionStationDiagram%20copy.pdf. It's a rendering of the proposed layout of whatever this place is being called now. It certainly isn't fitting of the name Union Station. Something tells me that in a decade or two, when this thing is outdated, there will be massive public outcry against spending more money to build another version of this. We will be relegated to planning for the new one for 30 years, the same way rail transit has went around here.

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The way I think about it, we're buidling the "phase one" of the future Raleigh multimodal complex. When the whole complex build out is completed with air rights development and all that 30 years from now, this station will basically serve as the "south concourse".

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