[Northlake Mall]

Unpopular opinion: If Eastland was still standing, Northlake and Concord Mills wouldn’t have half of the problems they have. 
 

Neutral opinion: I think we’ll see Birkdale get the new location to continue to serve the northern suburbs, however the Duke Energy Plaza location would become a tourist destination. I hope that location is on their radar. 

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

Here’s a few pics from the clearance test today 

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

Phase 1 track and platform work is 100% complete minus clean up. 

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

17 hours ago, southslider said:

^Thanks to this Rockingham project, the Triad will have a continuous expressway connection to Wilmington way before Charlotte ever will.

In addition to I-40. 

[Duke Energy Plaza Headquarters | 40 Story formerly Charlotte Metro Tower]

I took this photo today from future station track 1 at Gateway Station. 

[North Hills / Midtown area developments]

On 12/1/2021 at 10:56 AM, carolina1792 said:

Looking at the pipeline for North Hills/Midtown projects, Midtown may out produce Downtown Raleigh for mid-rising towers in the next few years. However these newer towers will be closer to downtown so the skylines will merge eventually? Really looking at a mini-Atlanta situation especially since Kane has a few 30/40 story towers planned in North Hills. 

Having lived in both Raleigh and Atlanta I definitely share your thoughts on this.  I-440 is starting to resemble the northern arc of I-285 (albeit much more pleasant to drive). 

[Triad Business Notes]

Does anyone know if the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite will be annexed by the City of Greensboro? 

[Atlantic Coast Conference considering moving its headquarters out of Greensboro]

All great points listed above. I think an ACC centric redevelopment of the Four Seasons mall property into a true walkable mixed used destination would go a long way… the decline of this area has a had a bigger impact on Greensboro’s image than most will admit. This area has huge impression on out of towners especially during ACC events. 
 
I believe Charlotte has already been selected internally at this point and the ACC is going through the motions at this point to save face. 

[Burlington and Alamance County]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Alamance County reminds me of what Benjamin Franklin said about New Jersey it is a barrel tapped at both ends.   Greensboro moving eastward and Raleigh Durham moving westward as Mebane is suburb somewhat of higher priced Orange County and Chapel Hill and Durham.  And Alamance County is home to many commuters heading to Guilford County.  It would be interesting to see the commuting data and see how many Alamance County residents go west to Guilford or east to Orange and Durham counties.  Plus Alamance has lots of jobs in its own right.  

on a personal note my grandmother was born in Saxapahaw in lower Alamance upper Chatham area  (UCLA area)  and the family then moved to Greensboro due to larger textile mills. 

Surprisingly Alamance sends a significant amount of commuters to Wake County as well. If Raleigh and Durham combine as a MSA there may be enough commuters from Alamance to the new Raleigh Durham MSA core counties to shift Alamance to the new MSA. 

[Chapel Hill Carrboro Developments]

30 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

this is interesting from a study about housing and need for more of it in Chapel Hill

""Before the pandemic, mornings in Chapel Hill saw a flood of workers pouring in and out of town as commuters and residents swapped places for the work day.  Nearly 90 percent of jobs in Chapel Hill are filled by commuters, the report found, while two thirds of Chapel Hill residents leave town for work.  "During the day, on a typical work day pre-pandemic, there are probably more commuters in the town during the day than there are Chapel Hill residents remaining," Stevens said. "So you're exchanging populations during the day with people coming in to work at UNC.”""

Me:    I would have never guessed that numbers are that high people pouring in for jobs and others leaving for jobs elsewhere. 

""A scathing report commissioned by the Town of Chapel Hill and UNC has found the town severely lacking in housing inventory and warns the local market could approach West Coast levels of gentrification and displacement if action isn't taken. The report, initially commissioned to study whether the town had enough housing for students, found that the town is seriously lacking affordable housing options for middle-income families and needs to be adding around 485 units per year to keep up with expected grow""

here is the article about it 

Chapel Hill is barreling toward a housing crisis. It needs a plan – now. - Triangle Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

here is the full report from the town of Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill Housing Needs Analysis: 2020-2040 (townofchapelhill.org)   Look at the map on page 8 where the jobs are and where big housing numbers are.   

 

 

DOLRT could have provided smart growth opportunities around stations to address this shortage. Oh well. 

[Chatham County]

3 hours ago, rancenc said:

Tenants announced for new retail center in Pittsboro.

https://shoppingcenterbusiness.com/lee-moore-capital-signs-18-new-tenants-to-join-180-million-mosaic-development-in-metro-raleigh/

I don’t think anyone will recognize Pittsboro 10 years from now. 

[CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines]

17 minutes ago, kermit said:

Today’s Ledger Transit newsletter has the best discussion I have seen about the Silver Line’s airport routing. Steve Harrison says the real reason the LRT won’t go to the terminal is the airport wants to keep its expansion options open.

“I can tell you that the airport felt strongly very early on that we wanted to do whatever to protect our expansion capabilities,” Gentry said. “We never said never, but we know the minute we brought a structure like that into the inner workings of places that we knew had the potential in 10 years to look very different that we were making some choices there.”

In summary, the airport is constantly expanding and changing. And it doesn’t want a multi-billion dollar train in its way.”

There is some discussion of bringing the Silver Line to the N side of the daily decks. From my perspective that is far enough from the terminal that I would just assume to take the people mover from Wilkinson and have a quicker trip to Gaston.

https://charlotteledger.substack.com/p/transit-time-the-real-reason-why

Translation: A one-seat ride to the airport is more complex/expensive than we (CATS) want to take on so we’re blaming the airport. 

I think the best case scenario here is a Silver Line Airport Station that allows pain-free connections to future commuter rail and the people mover. The people mover if designed correctly could be a catalyst for future Airport District growth. 
 

 

[North End Projects - Camp NorthEnd, Lockwood, Greenville, Double Oaks]

16 minutes ago, kermit said:

After a nice lunch at CNE yesterday it was clear that any Red Line rail service (should it ever exist) would need to have a CNE stop. It seems undesirable to have commuter rail service blasting through the complex at 40mph a couple times an hour.

Perfect location for a stop. 

[Triangle Growth - Issues & Opportunities]

2 hours ago, rancenc said:

Massive development could be in the works for Smithfield!

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2021/04/01/developer-assembles-land-for-smithfield-project.html

I-42 and Complete 540 will make Smithfield more attractive for commuters in the near future. 

[Charlotte area population statistics]

60/63 not too shabby 

[Chapel Hill Carrboro Developments]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Chapel Hill advisory board pauses on major apartment project | Raleigh News & Observer

 

 

Orange County is the most difficult place to build in the state. It’s not even close. 

[Burlington and Alamance County]

14 hours ago, rancenc said:

Apartment boom for Mebane!

https://www.thetimesnews.com/story/news/2021/03/02/mebane-leland-and-other-nc-towns-balance-housing-apartment-market/6881494002/

If the Raleigh and Durham MSAs are combined there is a real possibility Alamance County could be added due to existing commuting patterns.  Today Burlington has its own MSA which includes all of the urbanized portions of Alamance County. Over the years I’ve always thought Burlington should naturally be apart of Greensboro’s MSA since two cities have grown towards each other over the last 20 years, but with High Point joining the Winston-Salem MSA, i felt i clearly lacked the understanding as to how MSAs are formed. Greensboro and High Point are virtually the same city. 

Traditionally Alamance county has always been considered a part of the Triad. With the growth happening in Mebane and Graham it will be interesting to see how that dynamic changes. 

[2035 Triangle Regional Transit Vision Plan]

3 hours ago, nicholas said:

@Merthecat mentioned to me that he has heard that the Triangle will see commuter rail from Wake Forest to Sanford before we see a route from Clayton to Durham.  Not exactly sure of the specifics but maybe he'll chime in with more.

This is very possible. NCDOT intends to buy the S-Line soon. If they buy it, they’ll be able to run commuter rail to show an immediate ROI until the long term project to restore the  S-Line to Petersburg for long distance passenger rail is complete.    

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

4 hours ago, drumsy said:

City approves DOT agreement, Salisbury Station project could begin next year: https://www.salisburypost.com/2021/03/02/construction-of-additional-platform-underground-tunnel-at-salisbury-station-expected-to-begin-next-year/

This will help tremendously with the fluidity of train operations especially with increased freight and passenger traffic expected in the near future. Hopefully the Harrisburg Station is built with two platforms and does not preclude an *easy* future blue line connection.  

[Hillsborough Development]

14 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

I think that Chapel Hill and a small part of Carboro are the only places in the OC that are liberal.  Hillsborough, Efland, etc. seem like Bo and Luke Duke could come driving out in the General Lee at any time.

There is a lot of truth in that statement. Liberal or Conservative ,Orange County is anti-growth with the exception of the part that has spillover growth from  Alamance County (Mebane). 

[Hillsborough Development]

They’ll find a home in Alamance County, I’m sure.  Exit 143,145, and 148 would be great candidate locations and Buc- ees would replace some of the blight that’s there currently. 

[CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines]

A real question to consider here would be commuter rail and intercity rail connectivity. If transportation planners reasonably believe there will be an airport station for commuter rail in the future, there could be advantages to have a seamless connection between LRT,Commuter Rail, and the people mover. This type of rail facility could potentially offer check baggage and check in services. 

[CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines]

9 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Also, think how cool this bridge could be as a gateway when you're arriving in to Charlotte. (Little Rock station is the white dot to the left)

I agree with you. If the station isn’t at the terminal there are not many benefits to moving the station away from the Wilkerson Blvd alignment. The airport gateway has tons of potential and light rail can certainly act as a catalyst with good planning. 
 

One unknown factor is whether the People Mover frequency provides an attractive connection to light rail. I’ve seen long headways at various airports. 

[CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines]

Simple solution here, NS leases the line out to CATS or NCDOT. NS retains exclusive freight trackage rights. CATS or NCDOT takes on all maintenance and liability for the leased line. The line is upgraded with long sidings and double track where appropriate. NCDOT or CATS eliminate unsafe and redundant road crossings. NCDOT or CATS fund the necessary PTC upgrades. NS retains all longitudinal utility leases.  
 

A 50 year renewable lease under these conditions is more than reasonable. NCDOT (and NCRR) is already geared to work with local governments to add new freight rail customers. This arrangement would be a win-win. 

[CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines]

2 hours ago, kermit said:

Part 1:

 

 

Part 2:

In other words, freight traffic and passenger traffic must be dispatched together.  There will be no passenger only operating windows if commuter rail is allowed. With the appropriate track and signal infrastructure improvements I don’t see this as an issue. This arrangement is not uncommon.