Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[kermit]

the business plan discussing funding details for the new mixed-use rail line was scheduled to be released on "November 30th."

and here it is: http://www.ci.davidson.nc.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1762

[ajfunder]

Upcoming Red Line meeting if anyone is interested. Officials and consultants also will discuss the report with local elected officials on Tuesday, Dec. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Charles Mack Citizens Center, 215 N. Main St., Mooresville.

Alex

[mad_park]

2012 Improv Everywhere "No Pants Subway Ride" is scheduled for Jan 8 2012.

http://improveverywhere.com/2011/12/05/save-the-date-no-pants-subway-ride-2012/

Groups have staged the event on trolleys, light rails, and buses in the past, so don’t let a lack of subway system stop you!

Would be great to see Charlotte on the list.

Here are the cities that participated last year:

- Adelaide

- Amsterdam

- Antwerp

- Atlanta

- Barcelona

- Bergen

- Boston

- Brisbane

- Brno

- Buenos Aires

- Calgary

- Chicago

- Dallas

- Denver

- Detroit

- Edmonton

- El Paso

- Hamburg

- Johannesburg

- Las Vegas

- Lima

- Lisbon

- London

- Los Angeles

- Madrid

- Melbourne

- Mexico City {sodEmoji.|} Mexico City 2

- Milan

- Minneapolis

- Montreal

- New York

- Newcastle

- Orlando

- Philadelphia

- Phoenix

- Portland

- San Diego

- San Francisco

- São Paulo

- Seattle

- Seoul

- Stockholm

- Sydney

- Toronto

- Toulouse

- Vancouver

- Vienna

- Washington, DC

- Wellington

- Zürich

[kermit]

It feels like there is significantly more ridership being generated at Carson, Bland and East-West lately (at least on the evening trains to/from Checkers games). When combined with ridership from the promised new apartments in the area I hope the blue line will begin to be seen as less of a park and ride system and more of an urban circulator.

Edited December 7, 2011 by kermit

[tozmervo]

tipped off by twitter: the FTA has signed the Record of Decision for the BLE! CATS will be able to start acquiring the right of way for the project, and this opens up the next step: the Federal Funding Agreement! A press release is due tomorrow (Dec 13)

[atlrvr]

Sounds good. Weren't they hoping the funding agreement could be signed this month as well, which would make it nearly impossible for future congress actions to derail this project?

[tozmervo]

again from Twitter: FFGA is anticipated late 2012 after Final Design is complete. (the record of decision also allows CATS to proceed with the final design phase)

[ajfunder]

This is great news, does this mean construction is still on pace to start in 2013?

Alex

[tozmervo]

Yup, according to the now-released press release:

http://charmeck.org/...s/12122011.aspx

Edited December 12, 2011 by tozmervo

[tozmervo]

All be damned, more great Blue Line news! http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2011/12/beltway-backs-local-transit.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+charlotte_blog_queencity+%28Charlotte+Queen+City+Agenda%29&utm_term=%23cltcc+

CATS is receiving a federal grant for $18m to extend the Blue Line's platforms and power to three-car capacity ahead of the BLE construction. Work should be completed by 2015. There are no plans to buy additional car stock at this time.

[ajfunder]

Christmas came early this year, now if we can get that full funding agreement. Streetcar construction to start after the DNC, LRT improvements, Commuter rail plans back on the table, and LRT close to construction, it is going to be a busy few years for rail projects if everything goes as planned.

[Urbanity]

Waaa Hoo.

BTW - Here is the updated timeline from CATS Site

• FTA Approval to Enter Final Design May 2012
  
• Federal FFGA Signed December 2012
  
• Advanced Utility Relocation Begins February 2013
  
• Right-of-Way Acquisition Complete October 2013
  
• Start Construction September 2013
  
• Initiate Revenue Service Late 2016/Early 2017
  

[dubone]

That is great news! Hopefully austerity (or faux austerity) doesn't disrupt it, but at minimum this is a great side that it is a worthwhile project! For me personally, I know I will use this line regularly, both as a closer station for access to the current Blue Line, but also for NoDa and occasionally to Univ City.

[ajfunder]

2016 sounds so much better then 2017, can't wait until funding is in place and ground is broken.

Alex

[dubone]

Ideally we will come in under budget with bids like a lot of projects these days and then have it open as the economy is back to sanity and real TOD development can spring up to put it to good use. I was just checking out the station areas again and there are so many areas with potential as long as there is a market again. I especially can't wait for the area around 25th station to be shifted away from freight operations toward an urban corridor. It already was somewhat beginning, so maybe when things have a footing again, that can begin.

[ajfunder]

WSOC seems to be reporting that the FTA has agreed to pay their share of the extension. Quote "Charlotte Area Transit received news that the Federal Transit Authority approved funding half of the $1 billion Blue Line Extension to build light rail from uptown to the UNCC campus." Is this true or are they getting a little excited with the record of desicion announcement.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/29988359/detail.html

It also appears some major work was done on advancing the Red line today.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/16317022/plans-for-red-line-rail-from-mooresville-to-charlotte-released

Very exciting stuff!

[dubone]

Local TV news is notoriously sloppy with facts. This is not a done deal. For a better explanation of what Record of Decision is (the thing that we just got for the BLE), see the CBJ article. We can now do final design and right of way acquisition, but they did not agree to fund the full construction of the line yet. However, it is a good preview that they are *likely* to give us a full-funding grant agreement when final design is done in a year.

My favorite error in that wsoc story is that the park and ride parking deck that CATS will build will not be 'next to' that panda express. It will on-top-of that panda express, which will be an endangered species when we actually get this line fully funded.

[New Name]

Does the BLE swoop into UNCC after Institute Drive or before? And where is the station once inside the campus? As much as I love CATS map, I wouldn't mind if someone had it drawn out in Google Maps with satellite images.

Oh- and where is the football stadium on that map?

Edited December 14, 2011 by The Escapists

[tozmervo]

The BLE Alignment maps have much more detail overlaid on satellite imagery. The "N Tryon @ UNCC" shows what you're looking for. (spoilers: it turns in well north of Institute Drive/Circle)

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/BLE/Pages/BLEAlignmentMaps.aspx

Edited December 14, 2011 by tozmervo

[Windsurfer]

Thanks for that link!

I see that they have the line going through the really nicely wooded area at the UNCC stop. (Just about the only one left on the campus). I hope they can be responsible and elevate the line enough to allow plants and animals to continue to thrive. I can't tell you how many deer and beavers I've spotted down there.

[tozmervo]

Particularly beyond UNCC station it was going to be elevated over the wetlands. That's one reason deleting the last two stations saved them so much money. Not sure how much elevated track there will be between N Tryon and UNCC.

[New Name]

I see that they have the line going through the really nicely wooded area at the UNCC stop. (Just about the only one left on the campus). I hope they can be responsible and elevate the line enough to allow plants and animals to continue to thrive. I can't tell you how many deer and beavers I've spotted down there.

Hopefully there will be a really nice contrast between nature/built environment here (and they don't just level the woods for concrete pathways). That would be really something spectacular.

[Windsurfer]

Yes, indeed. A little bit of sanity before all the concrete and sterile brick boxes. People scoff at the idea of a monorail, but for the environment, a monorail would be fantastic. You could peer down on all the little critters. Elevate this portion, and as you say, leave the forest floor alone.

[southslider]

Really? Any positive change comes with some negative trade-offs.

And the NEPA process does not forbid impacts. An alternatives analysis compares benefits and high-level impacts of project alternatives. Once a preferred alternative is selected, an EIS then documents how a design avoids, minimizes and/or mitigates the inevitable impacts of a project.

The BLE now having a Record of Decision, a change in design around UNCC would need to be listed as a mitigation measure. But as far as I know, no agency reviewing the EIS thought such impact was significant enough to warrant such mitigation.

And big picture-- this transit line will have a lot of collective benefit that surely outweighs a patch of woods. Besides, if this land was so important to protect, the bigger issue should have been building the university there in the first place. The addition of transit, if anything, ironically helps mitigate this university's relatively isolated location.

Edited December 14, 2011 by southslider

[dubone]

It is as wide as a national park road. No one would say you can't put a road through the smokey mountains national park. Meanwhile, this is not even a park, it is simply vacant land owned by the university. Also, for the part that is a stream/creek, there is a bridge (it's the red on the map). That is half of that section. Personally, I don't know why it couldn't come closer to the institute and forge a more direct path to its station area, but I'm sure future campus plans had something to do with that.

As for the stadium question, it is going in that massive oval near the institute, which puts within the 1/4 mile radius of the Clay Blvd station. That station is also 1/4mi (5 min) walk to the hospital and all the retail there. Plus it will have a big park and ride deck and be the northernmost station that isn't on campus. I think it is going to be a pretty significant station.