Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements

[Scribe]

4 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

The sails over Catawba (Cornelius exit) look so great at night. Assume this is pretty much the same thing 

 

3 hours ago, norm21499 said:

I have never seen the sails at night, but they look quite hideous to me during the day.

This is a 'little' different. The Cornelius exit "sails" are purely decorative, they do not hold/support anything.

The Gateway sails are supporting a 46' wide canopy that has a 9" concrete decking (roof)... the mast (pylon) alone is 4 feet in diameter! The stay cables (sails) have to hold all of that weight up and the pylon (mast) carries it all... From platform to top of mast is 117 feet!! (and the platform is elevated from Trade St - so it will look like a 13-15 story sail from within Uptown)

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by Scribe

[Matthew.Brendan]

Now that is awesome!!! 

[navigator319]

17 hours ago, Scribe said:

 

This is a 'little' different. The Cornelius exit "sails" are purely decorative, they do not hold/support anything.

The Gateway sails are supporting a 46' wide canopy that has a 9" concrete decking (roof)... the mast (pylon) alone is 4 feet in diameter! The stay cables (sails) have to hold all of that weight up and the pylon (mast) carries it all... From platform to top of mast is 117 feet!! (and the platform is elevated from Trade St - so it will look like a 13-15 story sail from within Uptown)

 

 

5 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Now that is awesome!!! 

so were are talking something more along the lines of this?

 

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge _ Is is one… _ Flickr.html

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by navigator319

[Scribe]

24 minutes ago, navigator319 said:

So were are talking something more along the lines of this?

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge _ Is is one… _ Flickr.html

That is a closer comparison.

Another comparison would be there Talmadge Memorial Bridge (over Savannah River) except Gateway sails are not double masted so the sails converge at the top, which makes it even cooler - IMO!

Edited April 26, 2018 by Scribe

[Nick2]

I hope they light it up like the memorial bridge in Boston with color changing lights.

[Scribe]

Looks like the designs call for H1000 Stay Cable System by Freyssinet... not their HD system for heavy loads, but the concept is the same and advantages stay the same (i.e. replace/tension/install a single strand within a cable)

http://www.freyssinet.co.nz/images/stories/Publications/pdf/H1000 Stay Cable System.pdf

And, this thing is going to be LIT!

Edited April 26, 2018 by Scribe

[Hunted]

Compare it to Denver's Millennium Bridge, which is, according to wikipedia, 130ft long and the mast is 200ft in height. 

[ajfunder]

New Piedmont Schedule with the additional frequency. Effective June 4th.

[Spartan]

 

On 4/25/2018 at 3:42 PM, Scribe said:

One more confirmation that the canopy is still set to be the sail (cable) system....

Are the amtrack tracks were going to be at a different elevation than the freight tracks... or is that just how this diagram is laid out?

[Scribe]

9 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Are the amtrack tracks were going to be at a different elevation than the freight tracks... or is that just how this diagram is laid out?

Based on the diagrams the rails S1 and S2 (station tracks) at the platform will be a bit higher then the existing tracks, see diagram below:

And throughout the plans they save room for a third station track (S3) closest to Uptown/Gateway Station.

[Hunted]

http://www.wbtv.com/story/38117256/train-derails-two-miles-away-from-fort-mill-town-center

Train derailed in Fort Mill, SC. Is this on any line that runs into Charlotte?

[KJHburg]

25 minutes ago, Hunted said:

http://www.wbtv.com/story/38117256/train-derails-two-miles-away-from-fort-mill-town-center

Train derailed in Fort Mill, SC. Is this on any line that runs into Charlotte?

Yes that crosses over 77 near Woodlawn

[kermit]

45 minutes ago, Hunted said:

http://www.wbtv.com/story/38117256/train-derails-two-miles-away-from-fort-mill-town-center

Train derailed in Fort Mill, SC. Is this on any line that runs into Charlotte?

Yes, it connects Columbia to the NS main in Charlotte (the connection is at Wilkinson near the airport) and it runs beside the Blue Line from 485 to Tyvola. Since there is an alternative route from Columbia to the NS main in Spartanburg its not a big deal. Given that NS says there was no hazmat it will probably clog up the Southern route out of town through the weekend or possibly early next week. (Fort Mill will be a bit of a mess for longer than that however). The Spartanburg bypass route will delay some time sensitive intermodal shipments to the port of Charleston, but nothing horrendous.  Other than the potential for slight delays on the Crescent (which is always late anyway) due to increased traffic this will not affect any pax service.

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by kermit

[videtur quam contuor]

Raleigh new station from Boylan Street bridge

[Merthecat]

^Not a very flattering angle, but RUS is definitely a landmark addition to the city.  It will be nice when Gateway Station is complete so that both ends of the RGH-CLT line have fancy new stations. 

[InitialD]

Uggg, the backside is so ugly, please don't post it. This is better:

[southslider]

^That's what public funding gets you these days. Hopefully, joint development  (or a private partner) results in a grander design for Charlotte.

[Hunted]

There has been at least 4-5 different renderings over the last decade made available for public viewing. Of those few, I thought this one was the most attractive. Unfortunately, I don't think they're going to go with this version. The more recent one I've seen isn't nearly as appealing. A clock tower would be an AWESOME addition to the Gateway Station footprint.

 

[Scribe]

1 hour ago, Hunted said:

I thought this one was the most attractive.

While I cannot agree more, and wish this would somehow (miraculously) got built.

This is not practical, it takes up the entire block (prime real estate). We would have one dead block -- because Charlotte does not have enough rail traffic even in the next 50 years to fill it up and fill it with people on a regular basis. And CATS is backing away from moving the CTC there...

The current plans are more reasonable (in size not design). So hopefully we will get a decent private partner on the project that spends a few coins on an iconic design.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, InitialD said:

Uggg, the backside is so ugly, please don't post it. This is better:

I poked around the day before it opened, and I really left unimpressed. Doesn't feel grand at all. The area around, however, has a ton of potential.

[Hunted]

18 minutes ago, Scribe said:

While I cannot agree more, and wish this would somehow (miraculously) got built.

This is not practical, it takes up the entire block (prime real estate). We would have one dead block -- because Charlotte does not have enough rail traffic even in the next 50 years to fill it up and fill it with people on a regular basis. And CATS is backing away from moving the CTC there...

The current plans are more reasonable (in size not design). So hopefully we will get a decent private partner on the project that spends a few coins on an iconic design.

I hear ya. That makes sense.

It would have to be multi-tier (as the width wouldn't necessarily allow for more tracks), but in a dream world, I'd like to see several light rail lines having a confluent hub here in the next 15 years.

[Scribe]

1 minute ago, Hunted said:

but in a dream world, I'd like to see several light rail lines having a confluent hub here in the next 15 years.

me too!! #metoo

[Cadi40]

The reason light rail ridership is declining is because the majority of the population lives in the suburbs. Sorry Charlotte, I know you want to try to prevent Suburbia but it’s too late. So why not help relive some of the traffic at least and make lines where the majority population lives, Aka the Suburbs. 

[kermit]

1 hour ago, Cadi40 said:

The reason light rail ridership is declining is because the majority of the population lives in the suburbs. Sorry Charlotte, I know you want to try to prevent Suburbia but it’s too late. So why not help relive some of the traffic at least and make lines where the majority population lives, Aka the Suburbs. 

Because none of the burbs are dense enough to justify the investment.

Edit: nor do they ever have the potential to become dense enough given current zoning and NIMBY attitudes.

Edited May 11, 2018 by kermit

[Scribe]

12 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

The reason light rail ridership is declining is because the majority of the population lives in the suburbs.

Uhm... what? When the Blue Line was first designed and presented it was not "going to where the people lived".

5 minutes ago, kermit said:

Because none of the burbs are dense enough to justify the investment.

By the measure of population density the entire Blue Line should not exist.

Charlotte uses their light rail transit projects as re-development kickstarters.

Silver Line has the potential to be the first demand based light rail line in Charlotte - terminating in Matthews. Going from CBD (Uptown) to a very poplar and highly rated suburb (Matthews)!

Edited May 11, 2018 by Scribe