Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[kermit]

From the platform at 9th street. These platforms feel significantly longer than the existing ones on the Blue Line (and they are because they are built for three car trains).

In other BLE news I caught a glimpse of construction last light from Amtrak. It was too dark for photos but it looked like the station canopies at Sugar Creek were up. rails are beginning to go down around Eastway and significant grading work remains to the north of Sugar Creek and between 36th and the Craighead bridge.

 

 

[alb1no panther]

I to Uptown from Noda the other day, and took that right hook from Davidson onto Brevard.  I took a second to stop and take in all the construction.  That entire area has changed so much.  I can't even imagine what it will be like in 50 years.

[UPNoDa]

Hey everyone, I have an engineering/construction question that is puzzling me. On my way home from work Friday, I noticed that the Old Concord/Tryon bridge support beams are a nice smooth gray primer, yet the Craighead overpass/bridge is rusting/rusted. Curiosity led me to drive the entire length from uptown to UNCC and only the Craighead section is like this. So my question is, did they leave these segments over Craighead like this for a reason or did these perhaps come from another fabricator? IOW, why do all other bridges on the line appear to be primer or painted, yet Craighead remains rusted?    Thanks in advance!

Old Concord/Tryon 1st pic, Craighead after

 

[kermit]

Tom Hunter station from a moving car. We are also starting to see some early stages of rails going down north of Old Concord (not shown in photo)

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by kermit

[orulz]

The rusty steel beams are probably some sort of weathering steel like Cor-ten that is designed to from an outer layer of oxidation and retain its strength thereafter. It is likely that some design or engineering consideration played into the decision to use weathering steel in one place and normal steel elsewhere. Not a metallurgy expert so I can't necessarily say what those considerations might be.

[orulz]

Is there any chance that the blue line a would ever be extended further northeast ? The original terminus was supposed to be N Tryon & I-485, and there was even a 50 million dollar offer on the table if it were extended to the speedway. On the other hand, an extension to University City Blvd & I-485 would be my preference since an Amtrak/Commuter rail station could be located there.

[kermit]

1 hour ago, orulz said:

Is there any chance that the blue line a would ever be extended further northeast ? The original terminus was supposed to be N Tryon & I-485, and there was even a 50 million dollar offer on the table if it were extended to the speedway. On the other hand, an extension to University City Blvd & I-485 would be my preference since an Amtrak/Commuter rail station could be located there.

there is zero public discussion of an extension of the BLE. I guess that discussion might occur if, upon opening, the BLE is slammed, but I think that the focus on attention has moved onto the Silver Line and distant thoughts about the airport line.

I totally agree that a BLE extension to 485 and U City is the best choice. It would enable a huge park and ride plus a really nice suburban / commuter rail connection point. Unfortunately topography and building placement makes it hard to see how the BLE could be extended in that direction.

Edited April 10, 2016 by kermit

[tusculan]

7 hours ago, orulz said:

Is there any chance that the blue line a would ever be extended further northeast ? The original terminus was supposed to be N Tryon & I-485, and there was even a 50 million dollar offer on the table if it were extended to the speedway. On the other hand, an extension to University City Blvd & I-485 would be my preference since an Amtrak/Commuter rail station could be located there.

I think there is 0 short term interest in this, and probably not much more long term. The reason being that if the BLE is to be extended, it makes more sense to head out toward CMS and concord mills and eventually out to Concord airport rather than back over UCB to rejoin the NCRR. 

However, I think commuter rail is a real possibility in a decade or two. The Salisbury to Charlotte line could stop at UCB and 485, make another in-town stop at the BLE Sugar Creek station, and then proceed to Gateway for its terminus.

Edited April 11, 2016 by tusculan

[kermit]

I have not been keeping track of LRV deliveries but I noticed today that the South storage yard is getting very crowded. Vehicle #134 was getting a full inspection in the storage bay this afternoon. If the vehicles have been delivered sequentially then only 8 (?) more vehicles for the BLE have not yet been delivered. I would bet we will see some vehicles being stored around 8th street in the near future (representing the first non-construction related activity on the BLE!)

[Guest StuckInASuburb]

Here are some new (better) pictures of the UNCC station, it looks like they are leaving it open (in the future) to go under the road that leads to the north village parking deck. Or it might just be for storage, I am not sure.

Edited April 12, 2016 by StuckInASuburb

[kermit]

Old Concord station and N Tryon bridge. Note that cat poles are in place. Awning placement at all new stations suggests that fare payment machines will be at both ends of platforms. This is despertly needed now, but will be a quaint anachronism when electronic payment arrives.

 

Tunnel entrance, looking S from campus. Work was underway on Saturday afternoon here.

Edited April 16, 2016 by kermit

[kermit]

Island platform at Sugar Creek.

 

I don't think the construction schedule is looking good (despite CATS saying things are on schedule). CATS says the line will open in August 2017 (16 months from now, and 6 months of testing is necessary so construction needs to be complete in 10 months). The original timeline for the project http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/BLE/projectfacts/Documents/2012%200723%20-%20BL45%20Construction%20Summary.pdf

shows the following completion dates:

Track Segment A1 (7th st to Storage yard): Scheduled completion:October 2015 -- was completed about mid March 2016

Track Segment Storage Yard: Schedule completion: August 2015 -- it is perhaps 25% complete now

Track segment B and C: Schedule completion: May 2016 (one month from now!) -- some materials have been staged, but no track is complete here.

Catenery section A1: Scheduled completion March 2016 -- still no wires from 12th st to 16th street

Catenery section storage yard: Scheduled completion January 2016 -- No cat wire in storage yard at all, but poles are up

Catenery section B: October 2016

Catenery section C: July 2016.

There are also big holes in the Civil construction schedule. Civil work from the ACWR bridge to the Craighead bridge has not even begun, most of it was scheduled to be done last month.

The last construction items are scheduled to be complete at the end of November 2016 (7 months from now) and testing to begin immediately after that.

Looking at these dates I would guess we gotta be at least 5 or 6 months behind schedule (storage yard tracks are at least 9 months behind schedule). I am sure there is some padding and CATS has arranged for contractors to speed things up, but gezzz, its not looking good to me. I am bummed.

Edited April 16, 2016 by kermit

[tozmervo]

City council approved some money a month or two ago to speed up construction. Not sure what that entails.

How much time do the tracks themselves require for testing? Unlike the first line, this time they can start wearing in the new train cars well ahead of the extension being ready for train cars.

[kermit]

1 hour ago, tozmervo said:

City council approved some money a month or two ago to speed up construction. Not sure what that entails.

How much time do the tracks themselves require for testing? Unlike the first line, this time they can start wearing in the new train cars well ahead of the extension being ready for train cars.

A morning of googling failed to turn up an official answer -- I would really like to know what the FTA requires. The BLE schedule indicates they planned on 9 months of testing (November construction completion, August planned opening). Wikipedia (I know, I know...) says that the Twin Cities Green line (also the second rail line there) went a full year between construction completion and opening.

[nmundo]

I only vaguely k ow where the segments start/end but the tracks seem to be pretty close to done between Old Condond bridge and Tom Hunter station. And they seem to be getting the materials ready to go all the way to W.T. Harris so I wouldn't be surprised if they're done with track up to there by the end of next month assuming they can speed up getting the crossings done. All of the median stations also seem to be very close to done with major work too. 

[rancenc]

Some people have posted pictures of the tunnel underneath North Tryon Street for the Blue Line Extension.  Here is a quick video from UNCC on the tunnel project...the only part of the light rail that actually goes underground.

 

[alb1no panther]

BLE? more like blue line roller coaster.  up down up down fast downdarkturn screechingstop

[kermit]

A few new perspectives on the BLE.

36st underpass looks nearly complete (for LRT, the NCRR still has a ways to go)

Looking north heading under Matheson bridge. Rail construction stops at the heavy equipment on the left track. The grading on the other side of the ACWR bridge is not yet complete. Cat wire (on right) is kinda visible above, Cat wire on left track stops just behind me.

Construction at the North service yard. Hard to tell how much track has been laid in the yard (there is some) but they were working on it Saturday afternoon.

View from under the CSX bridge looking north.

Looking up CSX bridge heading North (from 12th st). Notice no cat wires yet (they are beginning to string wire at 16th street)

Beneath the 277 bridge. CATS has sensibly wrapped the painted abutments with housewrap and construction fence to prevent tagging (hard to see due to lighting)

Here is what 10th street extension looks like (Levine mud pit to right, hill up to county buildings on left). Taken from the end of the 9th st platform.

Edited April 23, 2016 by kermit

[SgtCampsalot]

1 minute ago, kermit said:

I hope they keep that blue/orange stripe design once they're done. It looks so cool in person!

[KulBC]

This angle shows how expansive and long the bridge is over the Harris and Tryon intersection, and I was not able to get all of it in one frame. 

[alb1no panther]

1 hour ago, KulBC said:

This angle shows how expansive and long the bridge is over the Harris and Tryon intersection, and I was not able to get all of it in one frame. 

wow.  that's impressive.  we need a drone!

[tozmervo]

 

[Deleted.]

27 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

 

That's a bit ambiguous. Early summer, mid summer, late summer? But it always seemed to be reported for an Late August 2017 opening. 

[tozmervo]

August has been previously mentioned, but the important take-away is that the schedule has not slipped beyond summer. 

[CarolinaCrown]

On 6/3/2015 at 10:04 PM, CarolinaCrown said:

Quick Vent.

 

How can we expedite the process of fixing the north bound track in SouthEnd where it crosses South Blvd for the second time.  The rails are bent/misshapen so much so that they have to crawl across this section before speeding back up for the last 1000 feet to the New Bern station...

 

I'll snap some pictures the next time I sit there for 5 minutes.

So I got an answer to my question today after noticing pieces of rail laying at the corner of Clanton and South Blvd.  I spoke with some CATS workers and this section was scheduled to be replaced this past weekend but due to rain it has been pushed to this upcoming weekend.  They said its gotten pretty gnarly, the trains basically have to come to a stop here to not derail.