Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements

[XRZ.ME]

If the greenfield option get build. Then the southern extension of NEC will have much faster speed than NEC itself. And NEC won't be able to go beyond 160mph for very long time.


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[XRZ.ME]

Bridge over panther stadium underpass


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[Madison Parkitect]

32 minutes ago, XRZ.ME said:

Bridge over panther stadium underpass

My favorite Simon & Garfunkel song.

[orulz]

If the greenfield option get build. Then the southern extension of NEC will have much faster speed than NEC itself. And NEC won't be able to go beyond 160mph for very long time.

 

 

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Clearly the Greenfield option is the winner in my opinion. If somehow it could serve downtown Greenville too that would be even better. Maybe SC could think about building a commuter line that would connect Greenville and Spartanburg to the HSR station and airport. If so, perhaps a few HSR trains (eg one every two hours or so) could turn onto that line and operate directly to downtown Greenville.

 

[ertley]

...or why can't they combine routes?  I think the "Greenfield" route is generally better overall, but if bringing the trains within the 85 corridor is possible along *all* of 85, why not do so in just the Greenville-Spartanburg area? It's already veering sharply west and then east again to make a connection at the airport, so I would say, follow the Greenfield route both SW and NE of GSP, but route it along 85 after leaving Anderson, and then back to Greenfield again after leaving Spartanburg. I know for certain the old 85 (i.e. 585) in Spartanburg needs an overhaul anyway, and the new 85 is not much more than a mile away from it at any point, so a radical reconstruction project there wouldn't be horribly disruptive. Greenville is more difficult, but I also think it's far more important for Greenville to have high speed rail running closer to its center, since it's the major population center in the Upstate region.  

Anyway, I don't understand why otherwise smart people allow themselves to be confined by Either/Or thinking. If it's cheaper and easier to go through countryside for most of the way, do that, but if it's actually a viable option worth serious consideration to construct a line along a highway for the *entire route*, then it should be o.k. to do it for a portion of it, when getting service directly to the largest population centers is contingent upon it.   

[dubone]

On 10/22/2019 at 1:00 PM, XRZ.ME said:

Bridge over panther stadium underpass


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Nice, but I wonder why they didn't go ahead and make it wider considering that the city has this slated as the connection between Stonewall/Graham and Cedar in the long term.     The whole point of creating those lists is to plan for those with projects built in the short term, as slightly longer bridge now is exponentially cheaper than widening it with operational railroad traffic overhead. 

[XRZ.ME]

5 hours ago, dubone said:

Nice, but I wonder why they didn't go ahead and make it wider considering that the city has this slated as the connection between Stonewall/Graham and Cedar in the long term.     The whole point of creating those lists is to plan for those with projects built in the short term, as slightly longer bridge now is exponentially cheaper than widening it with operational railroad traffic overhead. 

I also think the bridge is not high enough for light rail vehicle too. 

[dubone]

But it is 20x wider than the 1' sidewalk around the corner!

[ertley]

My bet is--if there isn't mal-coordination going on here--is that with the light rail now making the westward turn around here and taking the available right of way, it's only going to be a pedestrian connection, nothing more (i.e. no street connection), and this passageway fulfills that.

I'm guessing they're planning on elevating the silver line tracking over the heavy rail tracks.

My new dream is that if Tepper does get a new stadium, and if it gets built on the Charlotte Pipe and Foundry property, that they'd coordinate and actually have a station built at/within the the stadium, and not just utilize those at Bryant and McNinch streets on either side. I think that would be awesome (if done right). It could even be used only when the stadium is active, and just passed through on non-event days.  

[XRZ.ME]

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[Mgelbach]

Poop pics, but maybe someone can see what's going better than I.

[Hushpuppy321]

I cut & paste this from Wikipedia and have a question about “Phase III” - Is the Permanent Bus Terminal supposed to have Residences above it?  How fluid are these plans and what are the chances that a Developer would bite at a chance of something like this?  Just seems like a long shot as I’m unfamiliar with Housing demand directly on top of/at a Major Transit Station.  

 

Phase 1Edit

At an estimate cost of $91.3 million (2017 dollars), the first phase has two parts: 

• 1A) Construct track, structures, and signals to support two new station tracks; construct retaining wall/earthwork; construct temporary intercity bus facility (completed August, 2019).
• 1B) Construct rail platform and canopy for passenger loading/unloading.

This phase is fully funded with an anticipated construction period is 2018 to 2021.^[1][11]

Phase 2Edit

At an estimate cost of $49.9 million (2017 dollars), the second phase has two parts:

• 2A) Construct platform canopy; construct station building (interim condition) with full construction of concourse level and core and shell only for plaza and mezzanine levels; construct temporary surface parking and passenger drop-off area.
• 2B) Decommission existing Amtrak station on North Tryon Street.

This phase is partially funded with capital carryover from phase 1. The anticipated construction period is 2019 to 2022.^[1][11]

Phase 3Edit

At an estimate cost of $658.9 million (2017 dollars, the third phase has three parts:

• 3A) Construct greenway connection with bridge over Fourth Street, vertical circulation and retaining walls; construct bus facility, which includes structured parking and residential over retail wrapping garage (facility will serve as temporary parking for rail passengers till phase 3B is completed).
• 3B) Complete upper section of station building; extend greenway with bridge over Trade Street, vertical circulation and retaining walls; extend greenway to Bank of America Stadium; construct private development around station.
• 3C) Construct remote properties between Fifth and Seventh Streets; extend greenway to Ninth Street.

This phase is currently not funded, but is expected to be depended mostly from private developers. The anticipated construction period is 2020 to 2024.^[1]

[southslider]

A new bus hub at Gateway misses Blue Line.  The existing hub at CTC misses Silver Line. The only site that hits both is Levine Land.

[King of the Queen City]

Gateway Station can’t get here soon enough, but slight improvements underway around the current Amtrak station due to the work on Tryon.

[XRZ.ME]

Why the progress is so slow? I guess there never been more than a dozen workers onsite


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[kermit]

20 hours ago, XRZ.ME said:

Why the progress is so slow? I guess there never been more than a dozen workers onsite

No specific information about this project but NS is well known for pulling its required safety workers (flagers) off jobs like this with no notice. This tendency was a big problem with the original Blue Line construction and is likely playing a role here as well.

Edited December 17, 2019 by kermit

[XRZ.ME]

VA announce deal with CSX and Amtrak and VRE about buying 225mile of track between DC and Richmond. 75 mile of abandoned S line ROW. Build new long bridge and 37mile of new track. Increase commuter and inter city trains.

 

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2019/12/major-amtrak-vre-expansion-set-under-3-7-billion-virginia-csx-deal/

 

Requisite for connecting Charlotte to NEC

 

 

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[Seaboard Fellow]

1 hour ago, XRZ.ME said:

VA announce deal with CSX and Amtrak and VRE about buying 225mile of track between DC and Richmond. 75 mile of abandoned S line ROW. Build new long bridge and 37mile of new track. Increase commuter and inter city trains.

 

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2019/12/major-amtrak-vre-expansion-set-under-3-7-billion-virginia-csx-deal/

 

Requisite for connecting Charlotte to NEC

 

 

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That 225 miles of track includes the east-west Buckingham Branch line from Doswell to Clifton Forge, Va. 

Edited December 20, 2019 by Seaboard Fellow

[XRZ.ME]

2 hours ago, Seaboard Fellow said:

That 225 miles of track includes the east-west Buckingham Branch line from Doswell to Clifton Forge, Va. 

The blue line in the picture I attached (Or you can click the link to read the high definition version) is 112 miles. times double track is about 225 miles.

Buckingham Branch line is 173 miles of ROW

[Third Strike]

Does either state have plans of electrifying their main passenger lines? Especially since the Northeast Corridor is electric?

[Seaboard Fellow]

8 hours ago, Third Strike said:

Does either state have plans of electrifying their main passenger lines? Especially since the Northeast Corridor is electric?

The FRA has requested that electrification not be precluded by asking all that new overhead bridges be at least  24’3” in vertical clearance along the future Southeast Corridor. 

Edited December 20, 2019 by Seaboard Fellow

[kermit]

 

I might recommend mentioning the need for Charlotte Gateway and increased Piedmont service to Raleigh among other things.  Atlanta, Columbia and DC service might be worth a mention but the survey is mostly interested in NC things

[CLT>]

On 12/31/2019 at 8:51 PM, kermit said:

 

I might recommend mentioning the need for Charlotte Gateway and increased Piedmont service to Raleigh among other things.  Atlanta, Columbia and DC service might be worth a mention but the survey is mostly interested in NC things

How does a survey  for a rail plan mention 'increasing road capacity' and the word 'road' so many times?!

*face palm*

[Hushpuppy321]

I took the survey and let NCDOT know of the importance of establishing robust Commuter Rail Service for Charlotte and then eventually the Triangle Region for all its worth.  

I think Commuter Rail would work for this area and grow very quickly (5/10 years)  For the Triangle it’d be a much more difficult equation because the bulk of their jobs are very diffuse throughout the region between Raleigh, Durham, Cary & RTP.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Hushpuppy321

[XRZ.ME]

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