Good news on the light rail line from uptown to UNC Charlotte!
Charlotteobserver.com: Feds back $70 million for Charlotte light rail extension
Awesome! I noticed last night that one of the agenda items for the City Council meeting was “33. Blue Line Extension – UNCC Easement Rights.”
http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/CityClerk/CouncilRelated/Pages/02_13_12AgendaTOC.aspx
Yes, this is great news. Helps the University, will be good for football and those of us who live on or near the coridor.
I like it - I am still shocked though that they haven’t gotten rail to the airport. The biggest flaw of the system they are laying out is it is a hodgepodge of crap. I know they are saying street car to the airport or something. I know the population is not as dense on the west side and that impacts funding available, but really seems like there should be a solution there to get people to and from the airport without having to use a cab or bus.
Wow. Only 0.9 billion dollars left to go!
My property value just went up. ;D
when lightrail was looked at for the rdu area a while back (6yrs ago or so, was going to connect durham to rtp to ral), the plan didn’t include a stop at the airport. why? 100% political as the rdu authority had spent money the past # of years buying/developing land for long term lots that they wanted/needed to get a return on their investment. completely ridiculous. the plan never went through my guess is partially due to that as well as funding during the economic downturn.
no idea if the same could be true for CLT, but mass transit in an area that doesn’t include the airport is stupid and shortsighted.
anyone know if the univ lightrail is going to go through or stop at the amtrack station?
when lightrail was looked at for the rdu area a while back (6yrs ago or so, was going to connect durham to rtp to ral), the plan didn’t include a stop at the airport. why? 100% political as the rdu authority had spent money the past # of years buying/developing land for long term lots that they wanted/needed to get a return on their investment. completely ridiculous. the plan never went through my guess is partially due to that as well as funding during the economic downturn.
no idea if the same could be true for CLT, but mass transit in an area that doesn’t include the airport is stupid and shortsighted.
anyone know if the univ lightrail is going to go through or stop at the amtrack station?[/quote]That could be a reason for Charlotte as well, but the biggest reason is because there isn’t a high density of people out to the airport.
The only reason we qualify for federal funding for the blue line is because there is high density in uptown, North Davidson, and at the University. If not for the University, the line never would have met FTA requirements.
when lightrail was looked at for the rdu area a while back (6yrs ago or so, was going to connect durham to rtp to ral), the plan didn’t include a stop at the airport. why? 100% political as the rdu authority had spent money the past # of years buying/developing land for long term lots that they wanted/needed to get a return on their investment. completely ridiculous. the plan never went through my guess is partially due to that as well as funding during the economic downturn.
no idea if the same could be true for CLT, but mass transit in an area that doesn’t include the airport is stupid and shortsighted.
anyone know if the univ lightrail is going to go through or stop at the amtrack station?[/quote]
Doesn’t look like it; it’s going along Brevard, not Tryon, near Uptown:
http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/BLE/overview/Documents/BLE%20Corridor%20Map0111.pdf
Blue Line Extension page:
http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/ble/Pages/default.aspx
That amtrak station will be moving uptown soon anyway. Gateway Station is one of the top priorities for funding and will probably be built within the next 5 years. That will consolidate amtrak, greyhound, and other bus lines into one terminal.
when lightrail was looked at for the rdu area a while back (6yrs ago or so, was going to connect durham to rtp to ral), the plan didn’t include a stop at the airport. why? 100% political as the rdu authority had spent money the past # of years buying/developing land for long term lots that they wanted/needed to get a return on their investment. completely ridiculous. the plan never went through my guess is partially due to that as well as funding during the economic downturn.
no idea if the same could be true for CLT, but mass transit in an area that doesn’t include the airport is stupid and shortsighted.
anyone know if the univ lightrail is going to go through or stop at the amtrack station?[/quote]That could be a reason for Charlotte as well, but the biggest reason is because there isn’t a high density of people out to the airport.
The only reason we qualify for federal funding for the blue line is because there is high density in uptown, North Davidson, and at the University. If not for the University, the line never would have met FTA requirements.[/quote]
yeah still crazy that our mass transit solution for visitors is a bus ride through the ghetto.
Can anyone give an example of another city and university connected by light rail, and the pros/cons that they have experienced?
when lightrail was looked at for the rdu area a while back (6yrs ago or so, was going to connect durham to rtp to ral), the plan didn’t include a stop at the airport. why? 100% political as the rdu authority had spent money the past # of years buying/developing land for long term lots that they wanted/needed to get a return on their investment. completely ridiculous. the plan never went through my guess is partially due to that as well as funding during the economic downturn.
no idea if the same could be true for CLT, but mass transit in an area that doesn’t include the airport is stupid and shortsighted.
anyone know if the univ lightrail is going to go through or stop at the amtrack station?[/quote]That could be a reason for Charlotte as well, but the biggest reason is because there isn’t a high density of people out to the airport.
The only reason we qualify for federal funding for the blue line is because there is high density in uptown, North Davidson, and at the University. If not for the University, the line never would have met FTA requirements.[/quote]
yeah still crazy that our mass transit solution for visitors is a bus ride through the ghetto.[/quote]They do have a nicer sprinter bus now (it’s green rather than the normal white). It has room for luggage and it only stops 4 times.
[quote=“NinerNirvana, post:12, topic:26360”]Can anyone give an example of another city and university connected by light rail, and the pros/cons that they have experienced?[/quote]University of Houston, Towson, and ODU have light rail. Not sure of the impact it has had. I’m sure the information is readily available, but I didn’t look it up.
when lightrail was looked at for the rdu area a while back (6yrs ago or so, was going to connect durham to rtp to ral), the plan didn’t include a stop at the airport. why? 100% political as the rdu authority had spent money the past # of years buying/developing land for long term lots that they wanted/needed to get a return on their investment. completely ridiculous. the plan never went through my guess is partially due to that as well as funding during the economic downturn.
no idea if the same could be true for CLT, but mass transit in an area that doesn’t include the airport is stupid and shortsighted.
anyone know if the univ lightrail is going to go through or stop at the amtrack station?[/quote]That could be a reason for Charlotte as well, but the biggest reason is because there isn’t a high density of people out to the airport.
The only reason we qualify for federal funding for the blue line is because there is high density in uptown, North Davidson, and at the University. If not for the University, the line never would have met FTA requirements.[/quote]
yeah still crazy that our mass transit solution for visitors is a bus ride through the ghetto.[/quote]They do have a nicer sprinter bus now (it’s green rather than the normal white). It has room for luggage and it only stops 4 times.[/quote]
Where are the stops? If any of them are in west charlotte thats no bueno.
Maybe I missed this before, but that rail is going to be literally on campus. I was thinking the stop would be closer to Tryon and not that far in campus. Pros and cons to that I guess, but I definitely like the pros.
It will be on campus and will really add to the opportunities for people to get to the university and 35,000 students to get downtown for entertainment, internships etc…as well as the 3-4,000 university employees… Location is between the Union and Stadium i believe.
awesome… will make day trips via the train to clt doable. the simple fact that you currently would have to take a taxi from the station to downtown to catch the lightrail wherever you wanted to go is lame.
I predict NoDa will blow the F up once this is done. I mean I am sure our students will like getting downtown and back - but NoDa will be closer and it has more of a small college town feel.
Just hate that it is called the freakin BLUE line.
Also sucks that they have not been able to get the surrounding counties to chip in the money needed to extended the lines outside of char-meck.
From the Master Plan, it’ll have a stop by Miltmore and Wallis Halls. Here are some images (the red line in the first image is the proposed route of the line):
