Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements

[ES Charlotte]

Heard last night that the contractor working on the trolley line was never told about the structure or grade changes happening at Trade St. It's slowed down both projects considerably. Who doesn't love a good public-private partnership.

 

 

[XRZ.ME]

not much progress compared to streetcar
The last photo is for police station


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[KJHburg]

Just a drive by photo on 4th St. there is barely a street free of construction uptown.  Today. 

[SgtCampsalot]

44 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Just a drive by photo on 4th St. there is barely a street free of construction uptown.  Today. 

I live somewhere off N Davidson St and I cannot go anywhere between here, Uptown and South End without being affected by construction.

[go_vertical]

Well, we all wanted Charlotte to be a BIG city and now we have big city roads. I just had my car aligned seven month ago and I swear it needs it again....and I don't drive all that much. Less than 1600 miles since the new year. 

[CLT>]

5 minutes ago, go_vertical said:

Well, we all wanted Charlotte to be a BIG city and now we have big city roads. I just had my car aligned seven month ago and I swear it needs it again....and I don't drive all that much. Less than 1600 miles since the new year. 

Every time you encounter a pothole call 311, or use the My-Charlotte App. They actually do respond reasonably quickly to fix them.

Now if we could just get people to learn how to set manholes.....

[NCMike1990]

A short video from CATS on the Gateway project:

Source

[Nick2]

One great takeaway is that they specifically mention the silver line going to gateway!

Think about it. Someone from Greensboro or Raleigh could take Amtrak into uptown and transfer to the silver line to get to the airport and be able to leave their cars at home. That's insanely convenient.

[King of the Queen City]

Half the people in that video said Uptown and half the people said Downtown. Maybe we can just call the Gateway District “Downtown” and then we’ll have both, haha.

[15895]

6 hours ago, Nick2 said:

One great takeaway is that they specifically mention the silver line going to gateway!

Think about it. Someone from Greensboro or Raleigh could take Amtrak into uptown and transfer to the silver line to get to the airport and be able to leave their cars at home. That's insanely convenient.

“Someone” could do that. But it will be an insanely low about. Like maybe one person a day, at most. 

[orulz]

As a Triangle resident, if:
*They put an Amtrak station directly at CLT (a short shuttle bus or people mover ride is fine)
*They sped up the Piedmont to get to CLT in something like 2hr 15min
*The flight is a long one, west coast or international, with no direct flight from RDU

I might consider it. Otherwise, even for for a connection in CLT, a connecting flight would be preferrable. I suspect that the number of people who drive to CLT from Raleigh or even for a flight is vanishingly small.

Greensboro has a smaller airport and is closer to Charlotte so more people might be tempted, but it is probably still not a huge number. However, for people flying from places like Salisbury, just putting a train station on the Piedmont at CLT would be enough.

[King of the Queen City]

[Urban Cowboy]

On 4/21/2019 at 8:39 AM, AirNostrumMAD said:

“Someone” could do that. But it will be an insanely low about. Like maybe one person a day, at most. 

Agreed. I used to live in Winston and there were plenty of times I had to drive to CLT for longer flights. If Gateway and the silver line had existed, I would have considered it - But you're right that few people would do it because you're at the mercy of two trains a day and their limited scheduling, not to mention that it's probably cheaper to drive and pay for a week of parking than pay for a round trip Amtrak ticket.

PTI/GSO is great for quick trips to NYC or DC, but for anything major Triad residents either drive to CLT, or fly from PTI to CLT and then on to final destination depending on costs/convenience. But I can confirm there are plenty of travelers that drive from the Triad to Charlotte for west coast flights. I never flew out of RDU because PTI or CLT had preferable schedules or rates - so cant speak to what Triangle residents do on a normal basis. 

I have several friends who visit from Raleigh and regularly take the Amtrak into Charlotte. It's not that much longer than driving, and allows you to work and relax. The biggest issue with Amtrak, in my opinion, are the ticket prices. If you have more than 1 person traveling it becomes less and less attractive because it's much more expensive than driving, and less efficient (time wise). I love Raleigh's new union station! Check it out if you haven't. I would suspect that the silver line feeding to the airport will be 1/5 full of 99% Charlotte residents that live within .5 mile of the future line.  If lyft weren't $7 to the airport, then you'd see higher ridership. It all comes down to convenience and cost. 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Urban Cowboy

[Seaboard Fellow]

7 hours ago, orulz said:

Greensboro has a smaller airport and is closer to Charlotte so more people might be tempted, but it is probably still not a huge number. However, for people flying from places like Salisbury, just putting a train station on the Piedmont at CLT would be enough.

As someone who’s lived in both Greensboro and Burlington the people I knew chose RDU as their second option. The ticket prices from RDU were always substantially cheaper. Also flying directly in and out of Charlotte tends to be more expensive than originating at PTI or RDU with a connection at one of the hubs. 

I do see a large potential airport market for commuter rail/regional rail. 

[kermit]

1 hour ago, Urban Cowboy said:

If lyft weren't $7 to the airport, then you'd see higher ridership. It all comes down to convenience and cost. 

I agree with your premise but I'll be pedantic and say that it is much more than that during surge pricing (which is common at the airport) and rideshare subsidies appear to be coming to an end soon.

Assuming that the stars align for another batch of federal passenger rail funding Its not unlikely that we will see some elements of SEHSR begin to roll out in the 5-10ish year time horizon. After Long Bridge in DC/VA one of the higher-priority improvements will likely include a CLT station and tracks for Piedmont and SEHSR service (its in the initial plans). If that happens  7-12 intercity trains per day are likely to terminate at CLT (headed North). Basically any intercity train at Gateway will probably continue on to the airport. Unfortunately I don't think that is a sufficient frequency to generate a large number of airport riders, as Seaboard says, it just aint a cheap place to fly out of.

[King of the Queen City]

Ride share services to the airport from Uptown range from $11-15 + tips (for economy), but from University City or the I-485 Station at South Boulevard (the ends of the Blue line) it could cost as much as $21 + tips (also for economy).  It takes longer, but currently you can take the light rail to the CTC and connect to the airport via Sprinter bus for $2.20. More people would use the silver line than the Sprinter bus. As far as I know Charlotte does not allow overnight parking at any light rail stations right now. Atlanta offers overnight parking at some MARTA stations for people traveling to the airport (or just not wanting to park downtown).  Charlotte could keep daytime parking free and charge for overnight parking for a cheaper rate than what you would pay at the airport.

[Desert Power]

6 hours ago, King of the Queen City said:

As far as I know Charlotte does not allow overnight parking at any light rail stations right now.

Wait, really?  

[King of the Queen City]

1 hour ago, Desert Power said:

Wait, really?  

I’m pretty sure I read that. It may have just been for JW Clay and University City Blvd Stations though since those were going to charge unless you had at least a day pass. I haven’t seen that enforced, but I have seen a sign that said it might be if you exit the garage between 3-6 PM. I think that they should allow overnight parking (even if you have to pay) so that people staying Uptown or going to the airport can have the option of paying less than they would otherwise.

[Matthew.Brendan]

I have left my car over a weekend at Sugar Creek deck no problem, fwiw

[videtur quam contuor]

I know that in the past CATS ran an airport connector bus from Park and Ride lots and warned that no overnight parking was allowed. This service has been cancelled for some time due to low use. Not the same as Blue Line lots.

[XRZ.ME]

Just noticed that the railroad goes through long term parking area of CLT airport.

It could be exactly half way for the people mover between termials and Silver line station.

[southslider]

17 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

I know that in the past CATS ran an airport connector bus from Park and Ride lots and warned that no overnight parking was allowed. This service has been cancelled for some time due to low use. Not the same as Blue Line lots.

The Airport Connectors were subsidized by the Airport. When the subsidies ended, so did the service.

On 4/23/2019 at 12:28 AM, Desert Power said:

Wait, really?  

Not really. See below.

On 4/22/2019 at 6:19 PM, King of the Queen City said:

Ride share services to the airport from Uptown range from $11-15 + tips (for economy), but from University City or the I-485 Station at South Boulevard (the ends of the Blue line) it could cost as much as $21 + tips (also for economy).  It takes longer, but currently you can take the light rail to the CTC and connect to the airport via Sprinter bus for $2.20. More people would use the silver line than the Sprinter bus. As far as I know Charlotte does not allow overnight parking at any light rail stations right now. Atlanta offers overnight parking at some MARTA stations for people traveling to the airport (or just not wanting to park downtown).  Charlotte could keep daytime parking free and charge for overnight parking for a cheaper rate than what you would pay at the airport.

Overnight parking is allowed, due to third shift workers, but multiple day parking is not.

[southslider]

17 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

I have left my car over a weekend at Sugar Creek deck no problem, fwiw

You're lucky. See above.

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by southslider

[southslider]

On 4/3/2019 at 2:06 PM, ES Charlotte said:

Heard last night that the contractor working on the trolley line was never told about the structure or grade changes happening at Trade St. It's slowed down both projects considerably. Who doesn't love a good public-private partnership.

 

 

Who doesn't love public-sector mismanagement?

The folks responsible for Gold Line work in the same division of CATS as those responsible for Gateway Station, and both for the same Deputy Director.   These CATS folks also work in the same building as Transportation and Engineering departments of the City,  as well as the same Assistant City Manager. 

Must be too difficult to go talk to folks just feet away on a regular basis. /s

[SgtCampsalot]

4 hours ago, southslider said:

Who doesn't love public-sector mismanagement?

The folks responsible for Gold Line work in the same division of CATS as those responsible for Gateway Station, and both for the same Deputy Director.   These CATS folks also work in the same building as Transportation and Engineering departments of the City,  as well as the same Assistant City Manager. 

Must be too difficult to go talk to folks just feet away on a regular basis. /s

So I used to community about a 45 minute drive to work. I was never late; maybe once.

After years I started commuting a 3 minute drive, or 5 minute bike ride to work. I was late constantly the first few months.

Maybe they work TOO close to each other??