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Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line


dubone

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4 hours ago, Desert Power said:

With the way some of the operators drive, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more frequently. :lol: 

Rode the BLE for the first time in a while and it is noticeably smoother now. It used to be uncomfortable enough to where it would interrupt conversations, now it really just glides, as a Light Rail/Tram should. (I think we should get into the habit of calling it a tram, same with the streetcar, we use such long words/phrases in the US, Google even refers to the BLE stations as tram stops.

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6 minutes ago, nakers2 said:

Rode the BLE for the first time in a while and it is noticeably smoother now. It used to be uncomfortable enough to where it would interrupt conversations, now it really just glides, as a Light Rail/Tram should. (I think we should get into the habit of calling it a tram, same with the streetcar, we use such long words/phrases in the US, Google even refers to the BLE stations as tram stops.

I know small sample sizes are small and I do ride a lot less than I used to.  I do think it has gotten a bit better, but I had an awful one just last week. 

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3 minutes ago, Desert Power said:

I know small sample sizes are small and I do ride a lot less than I used to.  I do think it has gotten a bit better, but I had an awful one just last week. 

I'm curious how smooth the streetcar will be considering they're similar vehicles. 

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OK, the weekend maintenance shutdown is now complete, I guess I gotta give CATS the benefit for the doubt on a need for inspections that have not happened yet but my Monday morning commute featured:

  • One 10 minute late train which was chocka, I had to let it go by and wait on the next one. The next one was also stuffed to the gills so I had to wait on a 3rd train to board at 8:45ish
  • A 28 minute trip from 9th st to UNCC Main (this is a minute or so longer than last week). This was the trip that CATS advertised as "22 minutes uptown to UNCC"
  • The slow zone at the crossover / curve just South of Old Concord is still a slow zone (I did see them working on those tracks on Saturday)
  • Trains are going slower than last week through the N Tryon grade crossings (although one AT&T installer had stopped under the gate at U City
  • The slowzone at the entry to UNCC Main still exists (although there were CATS people out inspecting the track this morning). None of the rail which was staged there on Friday appears to have been used.

Overall a big, fat, nothingberger so far. Fingers crossed that improvements will eventually materialize. Until then I remain a grumpy old man...

Edited by kermit
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12 minutes ago, kermit said:

OK, the weekend maintenance shutdown is now complete, I guess I gotta give CATS the benefit for the doubt on a need for inspections that have not happened yet but my Monday morning commute featured:

  • One 10 minute late train which was chocka, I had to let it go by and wait on the next one. The next one was also stuffed to the gills so I had to wait on a 3rd train to board at 8:45ish
  • A 28 minute trip from 9th st to UNCC Main (this is a minute or so longer than last week). This was the trip that CATS advertised as "22 minutes uptown to UNCC"
  • The slow zone at the crossover / curve just South of Old Concord is still a slow zone (I did see them working on those tracks on Saturday)
  • Trains are going slower than last week through the N Tryon grade crossings (although one AT&T installer had stopped under the gate at U City
  • The slowzone at the entry to UNCC Main still exists (although there were CATS people out inspecting the track this morning). None of the rail which was staged there on Friday appears to have been used.

Overall a big, fat, nothingberger so far. Fingers crossed that improvements will eventually materialize. Until then I remain a grumpy old man...

My commute from Tyvola to uptown this morning featured:

  • Get to the station, notice way more people than normal standing on the platform. "Uh-oh, something is wrong with the trains again."
  • First train comes, it's very full and a few people from the platform get on. At this point, after people have already gotten on and packed the train full, the announcer comes on and says "this train is no longer safe for transit, please exit the train. All passengers must exit the train." And they had a guy checking every car to make sure it got emptied.
  • Second train comes, it's a normal amount of full and as many people get on as possible.
  • Third train comes, I'm finally able to squeeze on and get to my office a half hour later than normal.

Fun start to the week!

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19 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

My commute from Tyvola to uptown this morning featured:

  • Get to the station, notice way more people than normal standing on the platform. "Uh-oh, something is wrong with the trains again."
  • First train comes, it's very full and a few people from the platform get on. At this point, after people have already gotten on and packed the train full, the announcer comes on and says "this train is no longer safe for transit, please exit the train. All passengers must exit the train." And they had a guy checking every car to make sure it got emptied.
  • Second train comes, it's a normal amount of full and as many people get on as possible.
  • Third train comes, I'm finally able to squeeze on and get to my office a half hour later than normal.

Fun start to the week!

Well the good thing is the trains are very popular at rush hour and running full. The bad news is operations like this just send all the choice riders that have their $50,000 4Runner sitting in the driveway back to driving. 

Edited by CLT2014
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6 minutes ago, XRZ.ME said:

http://charlotte.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=154674c8ea364da687ce0f3248ffdac6

Massive TOD re-zoning petition tonight.

Looks like majority of South End will be TOD-UC. I recall that allow 300 ft which is about 30 floors?

About 30 floors for residential or hotel (10 ft floor-to-floor). Closer to 20 floors for office. 

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14 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

About 30 floors for residential or hotel (10 ft floor-to-floor). Closer to 20 floors for office. 

I don't understand why there's any need for a limit? I agree with some basic zoning, but restrictive zoning codes are largely the reason modern US cities are so spread out, or that you need to go to a certain "retail district" for even something minor like some cold medicine or a snack. Who cares if someone builds a 40 story tower in Southend, for example? If the residents don't want it, we've already seen what pushback can do to development. 

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1 hour ago, nakers2 said:

I don't understand why there's any need for a limit? I agree with some basic zoning, but restrictive zoning codes are largely the reason modern US cities are so spread out, or that you need to go to a certain "retail district" for even something minor like some cold medicine or a snack. Who cares if someone builds a 40 story tower in Southend, for example? If the residents don't want it, we've already seen what pushback can do to development. 

I'm a huge proponent of density and very anti-sprawl. Don't think a 300' cap is ridiculous. Basically every deal that's been done in SE this cycle has been below 300'.

 

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1 hour ago, nakers2 said:

I don't understand why there's any need for a limit? I agree with some basic zoning, but restrictive zoning codes are largely the reason modern US cities are so spread out, or that you need to go to a certain "retail district" for even something minor like some cold medicine or a snack. Who cares if someone builds a 40 story tower in Southend, for example? If the residents don't want it, we've already seen what pushback can do to development. 

This and parking requirements. If a developer wants to build a 40 story residential along the Lynx and not have parking,  what's the big deal?  Seems environmentally responsible to me too.

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4 minutes ago, Windsurfer said:

This and parking requirements. If a developer wants to build a 40 story residential along the Lynx and not have parking,  what's the big deal?  Seems environmentally responsible to me too.

Can't get it financed sadly. Office you could possibly get away with in Uptown. No way you could get MF done.

 

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13 hours ago, kermit said:

OK, the weekend maintenance shutdown is now complete.... Overall a big, fat, nothingberger so far. Fingers crossed that improvements will eventually materialize. Until then I remain a grumpy old man...

Still working....

 

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20 hours ago, Windsurfer said:

This and parking requirements. If a developer wants to build a 40 story residential along the Lynx and not have parking,  what's the big deal?  Seems environmentally responsible to me too.

I'd be willing to bet money that, while probably not as quickly as a comparable building with parking, the units would sell. Perhaps at a lower cost, but the difference could be used by residents to purchase off site parking elsewhere, and the developer could produce more units due to the space saved by lack of parking. 

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Do any of you remember when the Catalyst was originally for sale that parking was not included in the unit selling price?  It was offered as a monthly charge to the HOA if anyone choose to include parking.   Unit prices were actually below normal for that time.

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On 10/21/2019 at 2:49 PM, XRZ.ME said:

http://charlotte.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=154674c8ea364da687ce0f3248ffdac6

Massive TOD re-zoning petition tonight.

Looks like majority of South End will be TOD-UC. I recall that allow 300 ft which is about 30 floors?

Studied the Zoning Map - One thing I don’t understand is why the University City Transit Stops aren’t being rezoned TOD-UC like the stops in Southend.  Seems like there’s a lot of available land around those stops (UC Blvd, McCullough, JW Clay) to be developed / redeveloped.  University City chances of major vertical development would be hampered I believe.  

Even the rezoning for Ballantyne Corporate Park will allow for 300’ Building Heights by right (90’ to 200’ for areas closer to homes).  I think we could be missing an opportunity to build the ‘City-feel’ into University City.

Edited by Hushpuppy321
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15 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Studied the Zoning Map - One thing I don’t understand is why the University City Transit Stops aren’t being rezoned TOD-UC like the stops in Southend.  Seems like there’s a lot of available land around those stops (UC Blvd, McCullough, JW Clay) to be developed / redeveloped.  University City chances of major vertical development would be hampered I believe.  

Even the rezoning for Ballantyne Corporate Park will allow for 300’ Building Heights by right (90’ to 200’ for areas closer to homes).  I think we could be missing an opportunity to build the ‘City-feel’ into University City.

A lot of the areas around University Place are already MUDD or TOD.

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