Seaboard Fellow

Dandy, I think I’m missing the point you’re trying to make. What does the uproar over the RNC have to do with anything I wrote in my post? What is the equivalence between the CIAA basketball tournament and the RNC or CPAC? How am I haphazardly throwing around accusations of racism? I am calling out specific posts that are clearly racist, while at the same time ensuring that I do not call the poster racist. I fully understand that making a racist post doesn’t necessarily mean the poster is racist. I never generalized the city of Charlotte as I do not believe either myself or you are qualified to speak for the City as a whole. Charlotte is an amazing City full of open minded people. I will not address any of the hypothetical scenarios that you raised in your post because I believe they detract from my overall point. I will address the crowd “element” that you described in your post, and also give you the benefit of the doubt I feel you deserve. I assume you are addressing the Hip Hop community in general. These artist are a part of the most popular genre of music in the U.S.. They perform for crowds of all ethinicities all over the world in places mostly without incident. Any two people fueding can lead to a violent situation no matter what they do as a profession. Please let me know if you are referring to any other element. Calling out racism and asking for more consideration to be given to posts on topics involving these matters on behalf of myself and other posters is by no means calling myself and the other posters victims. I am only asking for mutual respect. Again, violence during large events can be addressed in a way that does not single out the CIAA basketball tournament. I will never generalize anyone on this site including you. I believe there are opportunities for people on both sides of the spectrum to gain better understanding. I don’t mind facilitating some of that dialogue via a separate platform.

Have you guys checked Charlotte’s crime statistics for the other 51 weekends of the year when the tournament is not in Town???? I get it, having 100,000 to 150,000 “urban” people uptown for the CIAA tournament can be difficult for some people to adjust to. Three to four days out of the year appears to be too big of an inconvenience for many people, economic benefits be damned. This passive racism has got to stop. Please consider all of the facts first before posting. These comments are hurtful not only to me but to many other members of Urban Planet who are a part of the very same demographic. Some your fellow posters are quiet when these comments are made for various reasons including but not limited to the desire for acceptance, or just simply being numb to racist comments. I am guilty of this as well. There are ways to be address specific issues in a non offensive manner (see @CLT2014 ‘s comment above). Everyone on UP should be afforded the same respect. Many of the NBA All Star parties referenced in an earlier post attracted the very same demographic of people at even higher numbers! No one complained because of the prestige that comes with hosting an All Star Game. I’ll end with this, please consider the very reason why HBCU’s exist in the first place. The CIAA is more than a basketball tournament, it’s a homecoming for most. North Carolina has more HBCUs than most states. North Carolinians in the HBCU community are proud of this fact. The people attending these events have stronger connections to Charlotte and North Carolina in general than many of transplants that currently live in Charlotte. I am more than happy to engage in dialogue via DM or phone for those who wish to understand my position in greater detail.

The LRT proposed route could be modified to continue on US 501 north to Durham Freeway. This route could then follow Durham Freeway to the proposed 9th station where it would connect to the current planned alignment. This alignment would still allow you to serve Duke, help redevelop a blighted Hillsborough Road, and open up transfer options for the planned “West Durham” commuter rail stop. Most importantly, it would reduce costs and potential conflicts. I believe this alignment would also create more opportunity for TOD. Along this alignment I can envision stops in the Morreene Road area, and the Fulton Street area. Duke could make amends by reviving its people mover and extending it to the Fulton Street station .

These issues should have been resolved YEARS ago. Unbelievable.

Precision Scheduled Railroading will do that. There may be other yards regionally that NS is better utilizing. CSX closed or reduced their operations at several yards when PSR was initiated. Here’s an article on Tilford Yard in Atlanta. https://atlanta.curbed.com/platform/amp/2019/1/25/18197249/beltline-csx-marta-colliers-transit-mixed-use-developent An opportunity to purchase the subject classification yard property would be a game changer for Charlotte.

Construction will commence towards the end of Spring per this article. https://myfox8.com/2019/01/22/progress-report-on-downtown-greensboro-construction/amp/

Tozmervo, you were probably thinking in terms of urbanized area in which case I would agree with you.

That’s the BB&T Financial Center building in Winston-Salem. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB%26T_Financial_Center

Being from the Triad orginally, that has got to be one of the funniest post I’ve seen on UP.

Raleigh’s numbers will probably increase at the expense of Cary with the opening of Raleigh Union Station. Thanks for sharing this.

That map is spot on.

The information in the FRA crossing database reflects 1-2 trains per day consistently from Mooresville north as of 2017. South of Mooresville the FRA crossing database reflects 2 trains per week or zero trains as of 2017.

I just received confirmation that the line is out of service north of Cornelius. I’m not sure if it’s out of service all the way to Winston. I would imagine there are probably industries closer to Winston still being served. The line has not been abandoned.

That’s a makeshift bumping post. Looks like all of the customers north of this location are dormant or are no longer being rail served. CATS just needs the right politicians to champion the Red Line. That’s how most of these matters get resolved.

That NCDOT sign that says “downtown” has more to do with NCDOT using their standard interstate signage for downtowns statewide. NCDOT hardly references Charlotte’s CBD on any signage not immediately adjacent to Uptown. At minimum “Uptown Charlotte” should be on the interstate BGS located at NC16/I-85, I-485/I-85, I-485/I-77, and I-77/I-85 interchanges.

@cowboy_wilhelm you are correct , the future Southeast Corridor is driving the grade separations of Blue Ridge Road, Millbrook Road, Durant Road, and Rogers Road. There are several other grade separations planned in Wake County including Gresham Lake Road, Ligon Mill Road, and Wolfpack Lane. Active negotiations are happening in NC (NCDOT) and VA (VDRPT) to secure the former S-Line from CSX. The Southeast Corridor (Formerly SEHSR) is a top priority for NCDOT’s Rail Division.

Another great project for Durham. I hope this gets built. The scale is perfect for that section of downtown.

I used to think of proposals for double decker freeways in the southeast as pie in the sky until I visited Dallas and drove on the LBJ TEXpress lanes. It could definitely work here (minus the frontage roads). Fortunately for I-77 commuters, I-485 is a legitimate bypass for Charlotte thru traffic that has bought NCDOT time to get this proposed widening of I-77 right.

There are several potential factors that can be impacting speed on the blue line extension, I will ask my former colleague who was a part of the BLE construction if she knows the reason. There could be an issue with the traffic signal preemption that has caused concern for local traffic engineers. CATS may be running at limited speeds through the affected crossings until this issue can be resolved for safety and liability reasons (see Denver). I don’t believe any significant improvements could be made to speed up the original blue line that local residents would have an appetite for as it would significantly impact the land use surrounding the line. I recommend talking to the operators if you ever get a chance, you’ll get honest feedback.

Not bad, but I thought the trail would be branded as “XCLT” .

I agree with you. There are many things to be learned from the issues that Denver’s A Line encountered. I couldn’t imagine having to pay two 24 hour Flagmen a day at each crossing for several months. I remember calling my counterparts at UPRR as I rode the train to find out what the heck was going on. Those crossings also protect UPRR’s traffic on the affected portion which contributed to the problem. Fortunately Charlotte’s LRT doesn’t have that condition.

With the amount of complex traffic signal preemption at each location, I would imagine redesigning each crossing location to add exit gates effectively “sealing” the corridor would be around 150k to 200k per crossing location including labor.

I don’t believe my post inferred that Baltimore was better than Charlotte. I was just referencing your view on DC race relations versus Charlotte’s. Those rosy visions you referred to don’t really exist anywhere FWIW.

I believe greater income inequality in DC as compared to Charlotte probably fuels those negative descriptions of African Americans as well.

The tournament should be held where it is wanted and appreciated. Atleast in Baltimore the attendees won’t be subjected to any type of “CIAA tax”. North Carolina is home to many of the HBCUs represented by the CIAA, Charlotte is the best place for the tournament to be held because many of the attendees genuinely love Charlotte. A lot of the negative sentiment for the CIAA tournament sounds familiar to Myrtle Beach’s negative sentiment towards Black Bike Week. I thought Charlotte was better than that. I’ll end my rant there.