Nindec

I haven't ridden it in a few years, but I'd check out Megabus. It looks like they have one trip a day, leaving at 4:15pm. There may be other services now. At least when heading north, their double-decker busses were reliable, clean, and comfortable, and had decent enough wifi access. They also didn't have many stops, so travel time was comparable to driving.

More detailed plan for the expansion, showing space for a grocery store on Willard:

These are coming out of the ground: The building in the background is the partially complete, partially under construction apartment building The Mark. http://themarkatdurham.com/ "Live to make an impression." Formerly Hendrick Durham Auto Mall. Not quite the same caliber as the renderings for 555 Mangum and Van Alen: It's hard to believe how different this area will be once these are all complete.

There are some great renderings on their website, http://durhamid.com. A rendering of the whole district (with American Tobacco strangely labeled as "Downtown Durham"): I was in the neighborhood today and the first two buildings are really coming together. According to the leasing brochure, they will have about 20K sq ft of ground floor retail, plus space for a rooftop restaurant. View from Morris St: Looking down Hunt Street, with the Measurement building: Looking up Hunt Street from the farmers market/central park: In the above photo, the red building is a condo development, "The Brannon," that is just finishing up construction. Compared to the Measurement building, its street level experience is pretty disappointing: http://thebrannannc.com/ Final shot -- view from a bit farther up Hunt Street, showing the parking deck that is also under construction: I'm curious what the long term plan is for this back quarter of the block.

Looks like Diamond View III could have a decent chunk of retail opening onto Blackwell, though I can't really tell what's happening from the renderings. This could be a much-needed step in the right direction for opening some the campus's energy onto the street grid. I'm curious what the "future development" plans are for the lawn fronting this space and DPAC. That's a big footprint right in the middle of the campus.

Looks like we'll have to wait at least another week before we know what's happening to the money Rick Scott is trying to reject: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/feb/25/251436/lahood-gives-florida-another-week-to-save-high-spe/news-politics/

According the NYT, North Carolina will get "less than $10 million" from the HSR money Ohio and Wisconsin refused. The biggest winners are, not surprisingly, California and Florida. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/us/10rail.html?_r=1

Not to mention the fact that CA received 2.3 billion, IL received $1.1 bil, and WA received almost $600 million. None are exactly swing states. While a lot of the allotment was probably political, it looks to me like less an attempt to shower money on swing states, and more an attempt to get a solid geographic funding spread -- which hopefully will make funding HSR politically easier down the road. The fact that the largest recipients didn't include any McCain states seems more a function of which states went for McCain. Most '08 red states are pretty rural, and of those that aren't, I can't think of any with well-formed rail plans. But yes, I'm also really hopeful some of this money will jumpstart Virginia improvements. The government needs to get serious about reducing Raleigh to DC travel times.

The DOT requested $290 million more in high speed rail money for the Raleigh to Charlotte track last week. While there's a lot less money on the table -- just over 2.3 billion -- the feds are requiring a minimum 20% local match, so there are a lot fewer funding requests than with the ARRA's money. 77 applications totaled 8.5 billion in requests. I feel like we really lucked out with the ARRA allotment, so it will be interesting to see if the money keeps flowing. And good for the DOT, stepping up to the plate with the required matching funds. The press release only mentioned a few specific things that would be funded -- grade separations at Sugar Creek Rd in Charlotte and Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh, and some station improvements. It looks like they were part of the DOT's 5th frequency needs. I couldn't find a detailed breakdown of what was specifically requested. Here's a good overview of our competition. We should find out this fall, so keep your fingers crossed.

Looks like the first installment of NC's ARRA rail money is coming in -- $20.3 million "to refurbish passenger coaches and locomotives." https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/pio/releases/details.aspx?r=3824 Anyone know some more specifics on where this money is going? I'm assuming these train cars will be new additions to the fleet -- are they in preparation for the fourth Raleigh to Charlotte route, or will they supplement or replace cars on the current routes? Either way, it's good to see some of that money start to flow.

Man, I had never noticed that the University Ford lot was listed as phase four -- I'll be really excited to see what they have planned for it. What they've done with phase one is incredible, but I really hope they make these lots a little more outwardly oriented (or at least inwardly oriented to connected streets). Since they're staring from scratch, it could have a much more traditionally urban layout to it. Those are two huge blocks -- maybe they could reestablish some street connectivity through there? Think how great a retail area along Jackson could be -- with the old warehouses on one side and that street bend on the other, you could feel very enclosed in an urban environment. I think DT car lots may be one of the few things I hate more than DT surface parking lots. It will be great to see it go. Guess I'll have to wait a few years, though...