Are we talking about a dome for our football team? Or are we wandering further and further off topic? 
Wandering off topic!!!
I really don’t want a dome. Football was supposed to be played outside and weather is part of the game.
I know dome brings other events but not a fan.
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clt says a light rail in the triangle makes no sense. there is no cbd. just sprawl.
the state should not give money to triangle projects and not the largest city in the carolinas
I don’t think the state of NC provided any funding for the Blue Line, but the federal government did. But NC should have. I know that Charlotte is not interested in expanding its interstate/freeway system miles… But we only have 77, 85, 277, 485, and US 74 is being converted to a freeway. So Charlotte has 5 freeways. When finished the Triangke and Triad will each have 10 interstates/ freeways. And we cannot get expansion of a freeway without a toll lane. Anyone that drives I77 south of DT knows that it is a parking lot fior much of the day, yet for some reason the state cannot provide financing to expand it until 2040s. So much for an equitable and fair system.
So, Charlotte is consistently short changed by Raleigh in the areas of transportation and higher education. No other state does that to its largest city and metro. The University of South Carolina is building a new medical school in Greenville, SC.
Also, for some unknown reason, I read comments from Triangle posters frequently on other forums where they think that the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA is adding more people than the Charlotte CSA. The Triangle is growing at a faster growth rate but not adding more people. I have studied population data for decades, and anyone that seriously studies population data knows that the Charlotte CSA is adding more people.
In fact the Charlotte CSA is 2,9 million while the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA is 2.14 million, and between 2010 and 2020, the Charlotte CSA added 60k more people. Yet many Triangle posters think that the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA is going to soon jump over the Charlotte CSA, and they brag about it on many forums. I am not certain where this false info originates from. Maybe Aprx can answer that for me because I am curious. I apologize for being off topic.
If I remember correctly, the light rail split was 50% federal, 25% state and 25% local.
Raleigh lacks a true urban core and most likely missed their chance at rail if they ever really had one in the first place.
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clt says we are the great state of mecklenburg
Mentioned earlier state of nc added nearly 300mil to original blue line project about 25%.
I’ll just say I’ve been driving toll roads in apex/Cary to Durham for nearly a decade. Just used it to watch Niners softball win in Durham. More work happening on the outer loop in southern wake and it’s more toll toads.
I did read since 2020 CLT has added more people than RDU which is a change from previous trends. Both areas are growing to dang fast.
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I did find it. $580 M, $299M, and $280M respectively from federal, state, and local funding. But where is future money coming from? They could do as Denver has done to build its 10 lines. They used public- private partnerships. CLT must move beyond the sales tax as its only revenue source.
Don’t get Wake County’s growth confused with the MSA and CSA. Between 2010-2020, the CLT CSA grew by 60k more than the Raleigh CSA. CLT’s MSA and CSA have been adding more people than the Raleigh MSA and CSA for a long time. But the Raleigh growth rate has been higher. But CLT’s MSA is 2,7 M compared to Raleigh’s 1.4 M, and CLT’s CSA is 2.9 M compared to 2.1M.
So, a slightly higher growth rate is not going to generate a higher population gain. The CLT MSA has been growing at an approximate 19 percent growth rate for several decades and the CSA at a slightly lower rate.
Sure Wake’s population has been growing faster for quite some time in both growth rate percentage and actual population gain. But Wake is 30 percent larger in land area than Meck so it was inevitable that Wake would eventually overtake Meck in population.
I do t know, but the state of NC records population of NC counties in the CLT MSA and CSA. When state government reports the population or population growth and growth rate of the CLT MSA and CSA in those counties of NC , I think some in the Triangke fail to see that York, Lancaster, and Chester Counties in SC are in the CLT MSA and CSA. But those counties’ populations are not reflected in the MSA and CSA when the state of NC reports it.
The population of these 3 counties is approx 420k. For example if you add these 3 counties on the south side with Union county nc which is adjacent to them then the population of tbe 4 counties is almost 670k. By contrast, the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA is approximately the same population but in 5 counties.
So, it is easy to see that if someone in the Triangle hears a report from the state of NC stating that the CLT CSA is only 2.2 M, they do not understand that another almost 700k lies south of the border. This could also impact the transportation infrastructure of NCDOT in our area.
Look at the number of freeways from Durham to Raleigh. I think there is I40, Durham Frwy, I885, and an upgrade of US70 to a freeway. Then consider that only one radial freeway runs from CLT to York County and southern parts of the MSA.
This could be a big reason why our transportation infrastructure is smaller. But the Triad has a great Frwy Frwy system so go figure. I think it is probably Charlotte officials trying to build dense walkable neighborhoods along transit lines and discouraging sprawl by not increasing freeway miles.
But the neglect of UNCC by UNC university system is a different story. Although that has gotten better over the years.
25% of the cost
Too much to read, so it must be true. Our light rail needs a dome. It’s for the children and climate change
The future of Charlotte light rail really
Is dependent on surrounding counties and cities to chip in. That is how metro mass transit works in most cities. I know Gaston county mount holly belmont and Gastonia have all helped kick money for light rail planning, that’s a drop in the bucket on construction costs, but it’s a start. I assume Mathew’s and Union county are doing the same thing. The transit solution is going to impact us all. If FM and SC want to keep benefiting from Charlotte they are going to need to kick in.
Lol no. Union county wants nothing to do with anything urban. They want to stick with two lane roads while simultaneously approving every housing development put forth.
I’m constantly amazed every time I go to Union county how anyone lives in the western part of that county. The traffic is utterly dreadful.
Northern and eastern side is nice rolling hills and peacefully rural, but the western part is horrible. All the inconvenience of city living without any of the conveniences.
The would be the last county in the area to sign onto any kind of regional transit program.
The other surrounding counties run their own small scale transit systems. Union county doesn’t have anything like that except for the disabled/elderly. Lancaster may not, but it barely touches meck anyway.
That’s sucks for them. I know the town of Mathews was directly engaged with CATS no idea if they contributed money but the city officials in Mathews said Stallings wanted to campaign for it to go there but I assumed and still do that only happens if Union County steps in.
It is saying something that only Gaston county has been smart enough to jump on the light rail plan. Lots of stupid leaders everywhere else. I know Gaston residents have to deal with getting over the River though and that’s a HUGE driver in the desire for this.
Matthews is in mecklenburg county, so they already have CATS service.
They of course pulled a Pineville and said they didn’t want it running through their downtown though, so now whenever (if) the Silver Line gets built, riders will not have easy access to downtown matthews.
It’s a shame because its one of the better downtown areas for small towns that surround Charlotte. Not as nice as Belmont or Davidson, but it has a nice vibe.
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Every bit of that about Union County is painfully accurate.
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I’m from Union and still spend a fair amount of time there. My mom still lives there and I’m there often for work. I dread going every time I have to.
Could be a saturday afternoon and 50 cars lined up at an intersection trying to make a turn. Indian Trail and Wesley Chapel areas are the absolute worst for this.
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Just say no
To domes
With the line running down 74 it won’t roll into downtown belmont either but the city is in the initial stages of a trolly line that will eventually go over 74 and connect belmont with Mount Holly and will cross the light rail line. Initially it will Just connect belmont abbey and downtown. Either way though it will enable folks to take a little trolly into downtown belmont from the light rail station. The tracks are already laid and are no longer used.
Mathews does have a good downtown shame they aren’t letting the line run all the way in. Last I talked with the city manager there was about 18 months ago.
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