Raleigh Union Station

[kermit]

Very interesting speculation about the future of Union Station and the Cytrix announcement at the Independent. In a nutshell its rumored that Cytrix will buy one of the Union Station structures for its office.

http://www.indyweek.com/citizen/archives/2012/06/07/does-the-good-citrix-news-mean-the-grand-union-station-plan-is-dead

[Green_man]

I have a hard time believing that Raleigh did all these Multimodal Transportation Center plans with the possibility that someone could just renovate one of the warehouses. Did they re-zone the property to show their height recommendations? Would that prevent someone from just renovating the space? And also, ISN'T TTA A PART OF THESE PLANS? I thought the whole point of using that property was because it was already 'in the family'! Don't they have a vested interest in making the Union Station plan a reality?

Man, it just one thing after another with this transit plan. IF there will even be a transit plan (based on all the negative 'we don't need transit' comments on N&O articles). So it looks like we should hear back about our funding request for the Amtrak station around October (?) and then hopefully (hopefully) pass a Wake County referendum to support transit in the November election.

I really hope Citrix decides elsewhere. And who knows, maybe the partnership between Cherokee Investment Partners and the Crown Company (who are rumored to be buying the TTA property) will be to develop the block into a mid-rise, mixed-use building that would incorporate the grand hall of the transit center into the bottom floors??? Pleeeeeeeeease!

[Euphorius]

Man, it just one thing after another with this transit plan. IF there will even be a transit plan (based on all the negative 'we don't need transit' comments on N&O articles). So it looks like we should hear back about our funding request for the Amtrak station around October (?) and then hopefully (hopefully) pass a Wake County referendum to support transit in the November election.

It's highly unlikely that voters in Wake will be voting on the transit tax this year. Paul Coble is shrugging it off, once again. Erv Portman suggested putting the tax and a presentation about the county's transit plan on the agenda for next week. Paul Coble's response was, "Nah." He later added, "We are not driven by the desires of special interest groups to put something on the ballot." The presentation by David Cooke, County Manager, is needed to get the ball rolling and have the tax put on the ballot. With Paul Coble's nonchalant "nah," the issue is likely dead in the water for the 2012 ballot. IMO, Durham and Orange will have rail transit long before Wake.

[Jones_]

Special interests? How pathetic...his whole agenda being driven by an even slimmer number of people representing a well funded 'special' interest. But c'est la vie. I had the feeling all along that the redevelopment of the viaduct building was Raleigh's way of getting something, while being fully aware the full buildout of the station complex would probably never really happen....at least not for a generation. To be quite honest, I think the warehouse district serves the city well as the nexus of creative companies....Centerline, Designbox, Raleigh Denim and the galleries being all we have now. Maybe the light rail station can ultimately be built nearer the CC (if the southside route is chosen) on one of the CC expansion lots (since that money was just diverted away to the County).

[kermit]

So the city applied for federal funding... what happens next? When do we hear if we receive funding?

TIGER grant recipient announcements are begining to trickle out....

No news is not good news for Raleigh.

[kermit]

Raleigh lands $21 million for the new station!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/06/21/3332860/raleigh-gets-21-million-federal.html

[DanRNC]

I don't get this. I thought the city was selling this property to Citrix. Raleigh really is a city with no clue-vague plans that exist one day, disappear, kind of appear another day, disappear again... I guess that's the way things are in good ol Mayberry with Andy, Barney, Goober, and Gomer leading the way.

[RALNATIVE]

I don't think that it was ever confirmed that Citrix was buying that property. I think that people "assumed" that is was going to Citrix, because

Cherokee Investment Partners and The Crown Co. purchased the property and were tight lipped about it.

Again, that was an assumption and we all know what can happen when we assume.

[Euphorius]

The only building being used for the Amtrak station is the viaduct building. The building Citrix was rumored to be interested in was on the block north of where the viaduct building is.

[orulz]

The Triangle Transit deal with Citrix and this grant are not mutually exclusive.

1. It is still possible, though technically just a rumor, that Citrix will be going into the building on West Street

2. The property and building rumored to be going to Citrix is owned by Triangle Transit, not the City of Raleigh.

3. The Citrix building/land is not a part of any of the most recent (scaled back) plans to build Raleigh a new train station in the Dillon Supply "Viaduct Building". (See map)

4. The earlier plan for a larger multimodal complex may have to be revised as a result of the rumored Citrix deal but that doesn't mean it's been scrapped.

All in all, this TIGER grant is a pleasant surprise.

[ERJ170]

Here's a thought.. Why don't the Amtrak portion use the lower part of the Citrix building while Citrix use the top portion.. Meaning that both win cause Raleigh can get another tall building, amtrax gets an extension for high speed rail station, and Citrix gets to be where they want to be...

Hopefully y'all can understand what I'm saying...

[ctl]

HSR to Richmond and beyond won't be built for at least 10 years, probably more like 20. Until then, all Amtrak needs is the Viaduct building.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Does anyone have a break-down of what the $21 million grant covers? Just track and signal reconfiguration/upgrades/revisions/improvements? Or is there more? I thought I read somewhere that the H-Line platform was included in this grant.

[orulz]

There will be a public workshop for Union Station on August 6th.

[Green_man]

I think there should be an skybridge that juts off the back of the Union Station and connects to an observation tower in the middle of the Wye to watch all this zig zagging of all the passenger and freight trains. Maybe something similar to the Coit Tower in San Francisco.

[ctl]

Will be interesting to see if this week's decisive vote in Georgia against a $7 billion program that was equally split between mass transit and road improvements has any impact on the Triangle. If the theory in Georgia was to assemble a massive shopping list that nearly everyone would find something on it to like, the strategy didn't work. Some folks felt the 50-50 split should have been more biased toward roads; others felt it should have been more biased towards transit. And then there were people who just didn't want to pay the extra cent of sales tax.

I realize that a transit-only proposal in Wake isn't quite the same, but transit advocates should look at the Georgia outcome carefully and learn from it.

[ERJ170]

Just incised riding ScotRail from Edinburgh to Glasgow and all I can say is.. Amazing! Smooth ride, reasonable price, onto me, and excellent views.. Nice clean train with good speed. My. Only question is why can't we have something similar in NC? I mean, come on! At least hourly service between Charlotte and Raleigh with 2 or 4 hour service on the other route which should already be ther.. (Wilmington, Asheville, moreland city, Greenville, Fayetteville, Henderson, etc). The rail service was just awesome!

Rather, just finished riding ScotRail..

[ctl]

My business takes me to the UK monthly, and I ride their trains all the time. Yes, it's a good system (as elsewhere in Europe, Japan, etc) although it can be an expensive way to travel if you don't buy tickets in advance. But directly translating that service to NC isn't feasible for 101 reasons, some of which are

• the general lack of connecting mass transit in NC cities (even spotty in Charlotte)
  
• the reality that a large amount of freight moves by rail in the USA, not in the UK, causing congestion in the rail system
  
• the availability of gasoline in the USA at $4/gallon or less (prices in the UK are 2 to 3 times higher)
  
• the proximity of population centers in the UK compared to the USA, which minimizes the number of rail miles for electrification, multiple tracks, etc
  
• the fact that the UK, unlike the USA, never adopted a pro-automobile transportation policy; therefore the majority of train stations were retained intact after World War II whereas much of the rail passenger infrastructure in the USA was dismantled in favor of the Interstate highway system
  

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Did anyone go to the workshop? I went today. . . . I need to learn the days of the week again.

[DPK]

Did anyone go to the workshop? I went today. . . . I need to learn the days of the week again.

I wanted to go but forgot about it. I remembered about an hour after it was over. I really wish they'd have these on a Saturday or something.

[Otto]

NCDOT Raleigh Union Phase 1 project website is live.

http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/raleighunionstation/

[cowboy_wilhelm]

I'm excited to see this moving forward. We certainly need a new station, and I hope Charlotte gets Gateway Station before long. They REALLY need a new station.

[orulz]

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/crosstown/feds-steer-another-237-million-to-raleighs-amtrak-union-station]More money for Union Station.

Counting the contribution already pledged by the City ($6 million) we're about $8 million short of the fully funding station construction ($60 million). The state is likely to cover this.

Notably based on the price tag, it seems that the full West Street extension is not included, but part of it (the extension under the northeast leg of the Wye) is an absolute prerequisite for the station, since this will be the only road access to the complex.

[RALNATIVE]

Looks like there's alot of information available on the Union Station website:

http://unionstationraleigh.com/

[Jones_]

I think that is just someone's dream station....? Link at the top of that page to a real info page...