DaleCooper

Sure, it was convenient from an operations perspective, but they would not have done it if all of their customers had not been moving away en masse. Going right into the city core is the most expensive thing to do operationally for pretty much any rail line in the world. But, we do it anyway, because that is where rail passengers are usually wanting to travel to and from. Rail and a vibrant and dense city feed off each other. There will be plenty of parking within easy walking distance of Union Station, too. That was my whole point when I opened this can of worms. Also, you can bet that Richmond would just love for all that surface parking to be developed. There are few things more cancerous to a downtown that massive swaths of parking. Of course, Richmond is also probably regretting the elevated freeway that was rammed right through their city, creating a pretty strange juxtoposition with Main Street Station. I've always found it fascinating when I go through Richmond and see this. Great example of old and new and how our opinions in general on both of them have turned 180 degrees. One thing I have always felt very fortunate about in Raleigh is that it managed to escape having something similar constructed.

That it is, but as a train station in the urban core it is much more relevant to this discussion than Staples Mill, which from a planning standpoint has very little similarities to Union Station other than that they will both have Amtrak service. Of course parking is a nightmare at Staples Mill. There is virtually no other way to get there. It's on a 6-lane arterial highway surrounded by suburban strip commercial development. The only other form of transit is a bus stop with a single route servicing it. There is a reason why Richmond and Amtrak are looking to restore more service to Main Street. The time of white flight, urban decay and unchecked sprawl that characterized the decision to move to Staples Mill Road in the 1970's is over.

My post was in reference to Richmond Main Street, not Staples Mill Road.

There are 992 parking spaces in that deck. Admittedly, I don't know the parking occupancy rate for it. Anecdotadly, however, it's probably not that high. Since the current station has the second highest ridership in the southeast despite only having 80 spaces (and I realize parking is a common complaint but the ridership is there nonetheless), I think it will probably suffice. Also remember, in theory this Union Station project is going to be accompanied by a regional transit plan (provided the citizens some day get to actually vote on it), and this project is designed to be more than a simple Amtrak station. It is supposed to be a true multimodal center. A lot more passengers should be arriving by alternative modes than they do today. As to the question of why not? Money. Let's look at a typical parking deck, say the new Green Square deck in downtown Raleigh. It cost $17 million for 900 spaces. $18,889 per parking space. $20,000 is about average for an above-ground garage, so Green Square actually did fairly well. And that is just the up front capital cost, ignoring maintenance. Is direct on-site parking that critical that we want to spend that much of the project budget on a deck? NCDOT has this project listed as a $60 million cost, so adding a garage would have a very large impact. What station amenities should be sacrificed to provide that convenient parking?

I think the prevalence of that mentality is why Raleigh will be stuck for some time as one of the most car dominated major cities in America. The idea that one must be able to drive directly to the front door of their destination no matter what is incompatible with a vibrant downtown, but hey, it's not the Best City for Car Drivers for nothing. For now, at least. So, like I said, not against a parking deck, but I want to show you why not having one isn't going to kill ridership. So, expanding on some of what I previously said. 1) Price the parking. As we know, the current station has a whopping 80 parking spaces (by the way, Cary only has 123, so I don't know where everyone is going to park if they start driving there instead). How much do they charge for this hot commodity? Zero. Don Shoup would probably say "What did you think was gonna happen, dummy?" Price the parking at Union Station so that it is higher than the surrounding parking garages. Those who are truly burdened and need to park directly beside the station will pay the premium to do so. Those who are not will make the rationale economic decision and make the 6 minute walk. Since the city also owns all of the parking decks, they can create any transit discounts, long time parking specials or parking validation they want. 2) The distance to the existing parking decks isn't as burdensome as you think. Just think about flying for a moment. At RDU, Park and Ride 4 is a mile and a half from the terminal. It functions no differently than taking the R-Line. More than that, if one of the parking lots is near capacity and you have to park far away from the shuttle stop, you are walking nearly as far just to get to the shuttle stop as you would be from the nearest parking deck to Union Station. Then, at many airports (fortunately not RDU), you may have to walk a huge distance once you are inside before you arrive at the baggage check area. Somehow, people pull it off. Parking decks are enormously expensive. Let's think hard about how much we really need that on-site parking before adding an expense that could be used to further enhance Union Station. 3) Here are some on-site parking space numbers from potentially similar Amtrak stations: Portland: 225 Denver: 15 St. Paul: 156 Richmond: 30 San Diego: 0 Seattle: 100

I'm not even suggesting that no one coming from the suburbs drive. What I am suggesting is that they can use the seemingly endless sea of parking that already plagues downtown Raleigh and is severely underutilized. Is it really such a stretch to ask someone to do this: http://goo.gl/maps/FxjQV Don't get me wrong, I'm not really against adding a deck to the station instead of a surface lot. I'm just saying I think a lot of people are overreacting.

And this is a problem? If there are more suburban stations that can better serve passengers driving in, then so be it. They are still getting to their destination, still paying their fare to Amtrak and they aren't clogging up downtown with cars. Everyone wins. I agree, it needs to be for the next 30 years, 30 years that will hopefully see a massive increase in the population in and around downtown, a significant improvement in public transit and a gradual transition away from a city that is completely dominated by the automobile. There are decks not that far from the station. If you have multiple people in your party, one person drops the others and the luggage off and goes and parks. There are many solutions to this extremely minor inconvenience. The people designing and advocating for this station are constantly referencing Grand Central Station, Union Station in DC, etc. These are places where people access the station by foot or public transit and they manage quite well. I live a mile from my local train station in New Jersey and have taken many trips by train, usually walking to the station, sometimes taking a cab or getting dropped off by a friend if I have a lot of luggage. That is how it is for many people who travel by train. Most airports I've flown in and out of I've had to take some sort of bus or rail shuttle from the terminal to the parking lots, but no one seems to question it there.

There is a ton of parking within a short walk, R-line ride or cab ride of the station. I think people are making way too big a deal about the parking.

That's very true, and I have to admit I got a bit sidetracked in that post and forgot what thread I was in hah.

The transformation of downtown Raleigh is going to come from the many 4-6 story buildings that are going up, not a skyscraper. Skyscrapers are great for postcards of the skyline, but don't do any more to add to the vitality of a place (and sometimes even hurt it) than a smaller mixed-use development. There are 139 residential units in PNC Plaza, and 17,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The 425 N. Boylan project has 250 residential units and 13,100 square feet of ground floor retail. An apples to oranges comparison in some ways, but these are two of the most important things to look at in terms of bringing life and vitality to the streets of a place. I'm not saying there is no value to skyscrapers because quite clearly there is (and that skyline image does have some value in itself), but I think a lot of times people get way too hung up on tall buildings when these mid-size developments are going to be what truly make the difference for downtown.

Publix does have a history of being willing to build in urban areas and as part of mixed-use developments, with downtown stores in Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale and currently considering one in Nashville. So, if we do hope to see a more urban style grocery store in downtown, Five Points, etc in the future, Publix entering the Triangle market can only be considered good news.

Hah, yeah that is something I created in early 2011 before the decision was made to renovate the Dillon Supply building.

I am admittedly out of the loop as I've been out of the Triangle for the last two years, but what is the status of the existing bike lanes on Hillsborough? I seem to recall that they were painted officially as a pilot or something to be reevaluated later. I know there was a lot of concern about how narrow and close to the door zone they were, with sharrows being suggested as an alternative. Was it decided to make them permanent?

Seems like a good plan, but it will be interesting to see how the bike lanes are used given that from what I can tell they will exist for a whopping four blocks. Also, I hope they are designed wide enough and given enough clearance from the parking door zone to not be potentially lethal like the temporary ones on Hillsborough in front of NC State.

The city council voted 6-2 for option D6 yesterday, so that will be the preferred route barring something completely unforseen.