U.S. National Whitewater Center

[pathb]

The article was an interesting read.  I'd heard a little bit about the history of the Whitewater Center but that was certainly the most complete version I've read.  I've been shocked throughout the pandemic how popular the facilities have become.  

From anecdotal observations, I-85/I-485/Moores Chapel Rd. seem to have a pretty high portion of vehicles being used as very fancy, expensive bike racks after 4pm any day of the week.  On weekends it seems like half of the traffic in that area is destined for the Whitewater Center!   I hope that the USNWC is advocating for a Silver Line station close to their property.  I wish there was a way the alignment could bring transit riders to the front door of the facilities, but I'm not sure how that could happen.  With construction of good bike lanes/sidewalk or trails to the station location, I could imagine a lot of people taking the train most of the way and biking/walking the rest.   

[CLT2014]

37 minutes ago, pathb said:

 I hope that the USNWC is advocating for a Silver Line station close to their property.  I wish there was a way the alignment could bring transit riders to the front door of the facilities, but I'm not sure how that could happen.  With construction of good bike lanes/sidewalk or trails to the station location, I could imagine a lot of people taking the train most of the way and biking/walking the rest.   

Current Silver Line alignment plans are on Wilkinson Boulevard, which would leave about a 5 mile gap to the main entrance and a 1.5 mile gap to the southern border of their property (assuming they built a second entrance just for light rail users and came up with some solution to bridge the 1 mile gap). 

Edited January 5, 2021 by CLT2014

[pathb]

I was envisioning something like the sketch shown in red below.  This is a distance of about 2.4 miles and could potentially be pretty scenic.  Obviously it would require permission from Duke to build under their transmission lines, but there are already lots of mountain bike trails and paved driveways through this area.  If the Silver Line Rail Trail comes to fruition, this could become a really important connection and start to create network for people walking and biking through this area.  Another benefit would be connecting USNWC to Iswa Nature Preserve just south of 74.  Perhaps the trail could even be built to the width of a narrow roadway and the USNWC could run a shuttle to the Silver Line station on event weeknights and all weekend.  

**Major caveat:  I have no idea what the I-85 bridge looks like near the river and whether it would be possible to construct a trail under the existing structure.  Another alternative could be to build a trail parallel to Moores Chapel Rd., but the I-85 bridge crossing is very narrow there.  That alignment could be a little bit more direct, but would require some kind of modification or expansion of a bridge which might make construction infeasible.  

[kermit]

^ it would be awfully hard to justify based on ridership to Whitewater alone (probably only a couple hundred riders a day on peak days and 10s of riders off peak).

Add in a I-85 park and ride (something the Silver currently lacks) and perhaps a relocated vehicle maintenance / storage facility (no great place for one elsewhere on the line) and such a spur might start to make sense. The downside is that the spur would require reduced frequencies to Belmont (shrug). Finding a way to connect to Mt Holly would be pretty great... even if just via pedestrian bridge.

Unfortunately its really just too much $$$ for not enough riders.

Edited January 6, 2021 by kermit

[InSouthPark]

3 hours ago, pathb said:

I was envisioning something like the sketch shown in red below.  This is a distance of about 2.4 miles and could potentially be pretty scenic.  Obviously it would require permission from Duke to build under their transmission lines, but there are already lots of mountain bike trails and paved driveways through this area.  If the Silver Line Rail Trail comes to fruition, this could become a really important connection and start to create network for people walking and biking through this area.  Another benefit would be connecting USNWC to Iswa Nature Preserve just south of 74.  Perhaps the trail could even be built to the width of a narrow roadway and the USNWC could run a shuttle to the Silver Line station on event weeknights and all weekend.  

**Major caveat:  I have no idea what the I-85 bridge looks like near the river and whether it would be possible to construct a trail under the existing structure.  Another alternative could be to build a trail parallel to Moores Chapel Rd., but the I-85 bridge crossing is very narrow there.  That alignment could be a little bit more direct, but would require some kind of modification or expansion of a bridge which might make construction infeasible.  

Most people coming to the USNWC have either:

Dog

Bike

Kid

Lawn Chair

Besides a few days a year when the traffic is retarded, I can't see anyone using the light rail to get there.  Not to mention the USNWS would want nothing to do with it as parking revenue is a huge source of income.  Carowinds, sure.  USNWS, no chance unless both sides are getting really creative 

 

[HopHead]

Curious about the hotel mentioned in the article. Anyone know of potential plans for that? I've long thought something on the scale of the Greenbrier hotel in WV or Ritz Carlton in Lake Oconee, GA would do well there -- not necessarily those brands per say but thinking something in the 5 star mold. It's isolated enough from center city that they could definitely make it a destination resort. The USNWC would obviously still remain a huge draw on its own. Heck, you could even stick a massive brewery there like the Sierra Nevada one outside of Asheville with quite the view over looking the center. 

Agreed with @InSouthPark I think they'd have to get really creative to have light rail run out that way. Especially with the parking revenue issue mentioned. 

[InSouthPark]

42 minutes ago, HopHead said:

Curious about the hotel mentioned in the article. Anyone know of potential plans for that? I've long thought something on the scale of the Greenbrier hotel in WV or Ritz Carlton in Lake Oconee, GA would do well there -- not necessarily those brands per say but thinking something in the 5 star mold. It's isolated enough from center city that they could definitely make it a destination resort. The USNWC would obviously still remain a huge draw on its own. Heck, you could even stick a massive brewery there like the Sierra Nevada one outside of Asheville with quite the view over looking the center. 

Agreed with @InSouthPark I think they'd have to get really creative to have light rail run out that way. Especially with the parking revenue issue mentioned. 

If I remember correctly to when they originally announced plans for a hotel, it was a "standard" express type motel.  But yeah I think a resort type place and an express type place could work well if you put the resort near the river.

[dxartist]

3 hours ago, InSouthPark said:

Most people coming to the USNWC have either:

Dog

Bike

Kid

Lawn Chair

Besides a few days a year when the traffic is retarded, I can't see anyone using the light rail to get there.  Not to mention the USNWS would want nothing to do with it as parking revenue is a huge source of income.  Carowinds, sure.  USNWS, no chance unless both sides are getting really creative 

 

Pretty much hit the nail on the head.  You  can a smattering of hikers and trail runners.

Not only that, during the winter months, it's pretty dead if it's cold, save for the hardcore bikers and trail runners.  And I don't have to worry too much about others when I train all day during those cold months.

[JRCLT]

Considering there’s already a trail in mind for that area that would connect the silver line to the USNWC. The idea of that trail is in the CharlotteMoves study.

[rancenc]

From this week's episode of "NC Weekend" on PBS!
https://video.pbsnc.org/video/us-national-whitewater-center-dz68wk/