Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[Miesian Corners]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

^ from the fantastic link posted by tarhoosier

Want to really be upset? That facade was covered up by Duke Power in the 1960s when it converted the trolley barn to storage. When it was demolished in the '90s, little bits of it could be seen poking through. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Miesian Corners said:

Want to really be upset? That facade was covered up by Duke Power in the 1960s when it converted the trolley barn to storage. When it was demolished in the '90s, little bits of it could be seen poking through. 

and here is a rendering of it rebuilt and refurbished. Sadly this never happened (obviously)

Edited February 28, 2018 by Guest

[QCxpat]

4 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

and here is a rendering of it rebuilt and refurbished. Sadly this never happened (obviously)

It's incomprehensible for Charlotte to lose such an eye-catching, elegant, architectural jewel as recently as the 1990s.      

Another fairly recent self-inflicted wound to Charlotte's identity and sense of "place" was the loss of the Antebellum ensemble of buildings known as "Granite Row" or "Granite Range" on the southwest corner of Independence Square in the 1980's.  Thomas Trotter, William Treloar, and other local merchants began constructing a row of brick commercial buildings known as Granite Row in July 1850 and completed them in September 1851.  They were the first brick store buildings in Charlotte.  Incredibly, Granite Row was torn down in the 1980s to make the Center City "more attractive."    Instead of making Charlotte "more attractive, "  it just gave credence to  the frequently harsh criticism seen in the national press describing Charlotte as a "soulless" place.  It's just unimaginable that Charlotte would so recently have pulled down handsome, human-scaled Antebellum buildings that Charleston, Savannah, Wilmington or Asheville would have rehabed and used to promote their vital and special sense of "place."  

 Thomas Trotter Building, 108 South Tryon Street

Link: 

(1)  http://cmhpf.org/Surveys/1975Survey/Pre 1900s Pages/pre1900sp5.htm  (Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, Pre-1900s Survey Index)

(2) http://www.cmhpf.org/Morrill Book/CH4.htm  (A History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Chapter 4 - Gold and Railroads, by Dr. Dan L. Morrill, UNC Charlotte)

Edited March 1, 2018 by QCxpat

[videtur quam contuor]

Wait a minute. I actually remember the National Hat Shop and it was on North Tryon directly across from Eckerd. ( I have a story about that Eckerd). It was in what is now the Independence Center (and Marriott). It was in the Independence Building and I saw it imploded. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Building_(Charlotte)

Ground floor of Independence Building, National Hat Shop. Corner of Trade and Tryon and across from current Thomas Polk Park, which is where this photo seems to say it is located. 

[QCxpat]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Wait a minute. I actually remember the National Hat Shop and it was on North Tryon directly across from Eckerd. ( I have a story about that Eckerd). It was in what is now the Independence Center (and Marriott). It was in the Independence Building and I saw it imploded. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Building_(Charlotte)

Ground floor of Independence Building, National Hat Shop. Corner of Trade and Tryon and across from current Thomas Polk Park, which is where this photo seems to say it is located. 

Would enjoy your sharing your story about the Eckerd's building. 

The information and photo re 108 South Tryon Street (originally the Thomas Trotter Building) comes directly from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Preservation  Commission (CMHPC) website.  CMHPC identified the photo as 108 South Tryon Street, and I included a link to it.

Here's a photo of 112 Tryon Plaza (the tallest building constructed in Charlotte in the 1920s).  It's the building on the far left of the photo of 108 South Tryon.  The magnificent arched entryway and colonnaded balcony just above the arch at 112 South Tryon is only partly visible in the photo of 108 South Tryon b/c of how it’s been cropped.  Thanks.

Edited March 1, 2018 by QCxpat

[QCxpat]

Here's Ely Portillo's story in The Charlotte Observer re: tremendous new developments along the Blue Line Extension, including:

• Ninth Street station (Lennar Multifamily high-rise and low-rise 548 apts. and Levine Properties 10-story apts.);
• Parkwood Ave. station (Alexan Highland Mill by Trammell Crow Residential 500+ apts. and Tompkins Hall);
• 25th Street station (Wood Partners building 261 apts., Proffitt Dixon recent purchase, and Ram Realty Advisors & Citisculpt 250 apts.);
• 36th Street station (Novel NoDA  344 apts. and Asana Partners restaurant and shops);
• Sugar Creek station (Kuhn building mix-used development anchored by Charlotte Art League);
• Tom Hunter station (Blue at Northline 376 apts.);
• University City Blvd. station (Oxford Properties 338 apts. and  Topgolf -- 1st phase of a major entertainment district in University City); and
• McCullough station (ATAPCO converting older office development into 280 apts.)

A train passes by part of a mural being installed on the side of the garage at the Novel NoDa apartment building. Crescent Communities’ installation of large artwork at Stonewall Station, may be the city’s largest outdoor artwork.   Photo Credit:  David T. Foster III [email protected]

 

 

Rendering of the Asana Partners retail building that’s under construction next to the Blue Line light rail 36th Street Station. It’s expected to open this year.  Photo Credit:  Courtesy Asana Partners.

 

Link to Observer story:  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article202458929.html   ("The Blue Line extension means 'we won't recognize this corridor in the next 10 years'"), last updated 03/01/2018 

Edited March 4, 2018 by QCxpat

[nmundo]

University City Partners just posted this on Facebook. It mentions 10 minute headways. I really hope they're not backing down from 7.5min...

https://universitycitypartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/UC-Getting-Around-Map.pdf

Quote

The light rail trains run every 10 minutes during weekday rush hours and every 15 minutes in non-peak hours. Weekend service operates every 20 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes during late night hours. The trains operate 7 days a week from 5:26 a.m. to 1:26 a.m.

[southslider]

^UCP has it wrong; still 7.5-minute peak

[nakers2]

 I heard on NPR today that the blue line is “spring development, including a full-service Marriott on the UNC Charlotte Campus“  that’s news to me, anybody have any info? 

[nmundo]

 I heard on NPR today that the blue line is “spring development, including a full-service Marriott on the UNC Charlotte Campus“  that’s news to me, anybody have any info? 

There’s info in “The State of Higher Education in Charlotte” thread. Construction should be complete around 2020.

[kermit]

Not a fan of the uneven stop spacing on the BLE while the South line (inaccurately) has mostly even spacing. I do appreciate that the roads are included in an effort to provide some orientation, however I think their uneven use (particularly the interstate shields) is distracting. Also the continued use of 485 to identify the Southern endpoint, but the inclusion of 485 adjacent to the Northern endpoint is needlessly confusing (the "To I-485 label at the North end which actually is pointing away from 485 just to the right of the label).

Edited March 8, 2018 by kermit

[tozmervo]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Not a fan of the uneven stop spacing on the BLE while the South line has mostly even spacing. I do appreciate that the roads are included in an effort to provide some orientation, however I think their uneven use is a bit distracting. Also the continued use of 485 to identify the Southern end point, but the inclusion of 485 adjacent to the Northern endpoint is needlessly confusing.

But the little bikes on the front of the busses are so cute...

[JacksonH]

7 hours ago, kermit said:

Not a fan of the uneven stop spacing on the BLE while the South line (inaccurately) has mostly even spacing. I do appreciate that the roads are included in an effort to provide some orientation, however I think their uneven use (particularly the interstate shields) is distracting. Also the continued use of 485 to identify the Southern endpoint, but the inclusion of 485 adjacent to the Northern endpoint is needlessly confusing (the "To I-485 label at the North end which actually is pointing away from 485 just to the right of the label).

Isn't the CTC the transfer point to the Gold Line?  Why is that not indicated on this map?

[nmundo]

Looking at that the time table it looks like the 22min travel time to uptown they've been touting isn't happening. It's 33min from UNCC to CTC and 59min from end to end according to the schedule. Hopefully once the drivers become more comfortable on the line they can shave a few minutes off that.

 

Edit: That's about a 5 minute saving from what google maps says it takes the 11 to make the trip from start to end. That's crazy considering that for about 4.5mi (about half the line) it's a fairly straight section of track with really only one grade crossing, 16th St (I'm not counting the Old Concord crossing as it's so close to a station it shouldn't affect top speed.) I'm really hoping it's just a CATS playing it safe with top speeds and they'll be able to ramp up speeds after they get comfortable with the system being in service.

Edited March 9, 2018 by nmundo

[kermit]

12 minutes ago, nmundo said:

Looking at that the time table it looks like the 22min travel time to uptown they've been touting isn't happening. It's 33min from UNCC to CTC and 59min from end to end according to the schedule. Hopefully once the drivers become more comfortable on the line they can shave a few minutes off that.

gezzus, that is less than 17 mph between CTC and UNCC (assuming its 9.3 miles).

Edited March 9, 2018 by kermit

[15895]

25 minutes ago, kermit said:

gezzus, that is less than 17 mph between CTC and UNCC (assuming its 9.3 miles).

The test trains were going very slow. I assumed it was because they were testing.  

[End_The_Sprawl]

Any idea why these trains go so slow? Maybe there are too many stops in areas with heavy vehicle traffic?

[kermit]

1 minute ago, End_The_Sprawl said:

Any idea why these trains go so slow? Maybe there are too many stops in areas with heavy vehicle traffic?

My guess (and its just a guess) is poor timing on the grade crossing gates along N Tryon. Having the gates drop sooner would help speed trains.

[Desert Power]

45 minutes ago, End_The_Sprawl said:

Any idea why these trains go so slow? Maybe there are too many stops in areas with heavy vehicle traffic?

They go extremely slow through street crossings uptown.

[15895]

14 minutes ago, Desert Power said:

They go extremely slow through street crossings uptown.

 

The stops are only a couple blocks apart though uptown

[southslider]

Drivers keep stopping in front of crossing gates.

[tarwater]

23 hours ago, southslider said:

Drivers keep stopping in front of crossing gates.

In the left turn lane? I've noticed this too, though I haven't actually seen what happens when the arm comes down on top of a car...

[elrodvt]

Yet the city manager says no way to camera's. we have no police enforcement of traffic uptown so something has to give.

[southslider]

6 hours ago, tarwater said:

In the left turn lane?

Yes, after the stop bar. Even blocking the crosswalk. This appears to be why the extension averages less than 20mph.

 

[southslider]

If you change your departure date in Google Maps to Monday, March 19, or later, you can see how to travel on the fully extended Blue Line and new bus connections.