[Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion]

On 5/7/2024 at 9:44 AM, allthingsplanes said:

Question for you all (without us being able to do anything about it).  I had to take my mother to the airport the other day, and the drop off area was terrible.  Cars were stopped at least 2 deep, and cars that were along the curb were trapped there trying to get out for several minutes.  One car was diagonal across both lanes, just stopped and not doing anything.   People kept pulling up and stopping in the 2nd lane, blocking others in.  So my question is, why, with all of the rework to the drop-off and pick-up areas, did they not do a center island with curb access from 2 sides?  Or at least do like some airports and clearly mark off 2 lanes for stopping?  And why don't they have traffic control people out there getting cars out of the way?  It's such a cluster for an airport that has made so many worthwhile improvements...

A solution I saw at a couple of international airports is the use of diagonal parking at drop off, like we see used in the downtowns of some old towns here in NC. There were no cars being blocked in and cars could ease in and out quickly. There wasn't any need for traffic control personnel unless someone overstayed the time limit.  CLT would have benefited too from having multiple   drive-up terminals instead of trying to cram all the arrivals in at only one.

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

On 2/29/2024 at 11:40 PM, TheMightyBK said:

It’s shortsighted and thick-skulled to not believe rail benefits the entire region. Yes, cars will always be the choice for most people, especially in the burbs, but why wouldn’t all rail corridor residents want the option to skip traffic?  Let the localities decide if they want a stop or not, and if they do, really put some thought into what surrounds the station so the citizens are satisfied that it will help them and not hurt them.  Where I live outside of Baltimore, the heavy rail metro train ends about 10 miles away, and every now and then there’s crime and these country people will start facebooking about “ever since the metro…”, which is really just poorly veiled racism.  I mean, I have never actually heard of any incidents where a metro-riding criminal took a train to the burbs did some criming and then waited for the train to get back to the city. Anyway, point is, it serves people from my community, 10 miles away.  My county borders Balt Co and voters here enthusiastically rejected bringing the metro line here years ago and still would today.  But I know lots of neighbors that work in the city that use it, and yes it serves a great purpose to a large number of commuters…and that eases the load on the roads too.  People who take metro like it a lot more than sitting in traffic, 100%.  Before I moved here I was in Huntersville, and I guarantee a good number of people in the 77 corridor would LOVE a train option.  if I’m a politician and that is my district, I am going all-in for rail and I am dedicated to making sure it works for the localities that choose to have a station. 

Dealing with urban matters is above Moore's and Berger's skill set, so they hide behind the one size fits all notion that only building more roads will solve traffic problems.

 

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

3 hours ago, CLT Development said:

Going on WSOC to respond to Speaker Moore's comments, so send your well wishes and any verbal ammo you have.

Moore claims Charlotte is not dense enough for rail. All of Charlotte isn't , so you start building from the areas that are high density now and build out. He mentions the blue line and it's success so he should know that can work. The city could run a line from Midtown through the Pearl district to the airport with a grand link at the blue line junction, then extend eastward from Midtown as neighborhoods get denser. Atlanta has wider interstates than Charlotte and still has worse bottlenecks, so does Houston and a lot of cities with plenty of miles of interstate. He should know we can't solve traffic issues by building highways alone.

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

13 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Not really. 14 is currently Jeff Jackson's seat, but the district has since been gerrymandered to make it a lock for the republican candidate running for that seat in November. The NC legislature basically rolled us backward to where we were before the 2022 elections, so there is only one seat that's remotely competitive. 

It's not a guaranteed win for him if a candidate can pin the fate of the Red Line on him. After over 12 years of saying no, Norfolk and Southern is finally willing to negotiate and now Moore is snatching that opportunity away from the people in North Meck instead of letting them determine if they want a rail line in the near future.  That election has to be framed so that it becomes the issue a candidate doesn't want to be on the wrong side of the affected constituents, just like when Pat McCrory was running for governor and wouldn't stand against making I-77 in North Meck a toll road. He lost in a close election. Moore's opponent, people in the district and others with something to gain by winning it need to raise the stink level of being denied the Red line, because if there's no 1 cent tax referendum, the line is dead. And if the Red line is dead, so is any chance of the Silver line going into Gaston county, so it affects people there too. If there is a will there's a way.

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

On 2/27/2024 at 5:57 PM, CLT2014 said:

The legislature is back to make it clear they will only support a road's first transit plan. 

"Some of the things that we often hear from transportation advocates in urban areas are probably difficult for folks to vote for," he [Berger] said.

https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2024/02/26/berger-moore-transportation-plan-transit-roads-first

Those "folks" he's talking about would suddenly find those "things" real easy to figure out if urban counties withheld  their sales tax revenue and let them have to get along without it. BTW Moore is running for congress in the new 14th district which includes part of Mecklenburg County. Here's to voting for his opponent for all the angst he has cause this county.

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

10 hours ago, FLOSC843 said:

Shots fired. ATL has had enough Wasn't sure where to put this but I guess here is just as good a place as any. "Atlanta mayor claps back at Charlotte" courtesy of house speaker Tim Moore's comments on transit.  Also included the  Axios article that featured Moore's original comments.
 

https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2024/02/28/atlanta-mayor-claps-back-at-charlotte

https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2024/02/26/berger-moore-transportation-plan-transit-roads-first

 

All's not lost on the referendum. Isn't he running for US House district 14 which includes part of Northern Mecklenburg County? People there have a chance to send him  back home with a loss in November.

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

A few years ago the state gave counties the option to have a referendum to have a 1/4th cent sales tax increase. Did Mecklenburg  County ever do that?  If not, it could be a small source of revenue for the rail lines. Add this to some other creative options and they may generate enough revenue to start the Red line, some road improvements and maybe a short piece of the Silver line.   Another piece of legislation, Senate bill 696 titled Local Option Sales Tax Flexibility was considered in the 2023 session. It would give some counties the option of adding an additional 1/4 or 1/2 cent sales tax by  referendum.  Last I could find, it was referred to a committee on Rules and Operations  of the Senate. It needs to be resurrected.   In a related matter that is critical, the NC speaker of the House who is from Cleveland Co, a man who has stood in the way of Mecklenburg County and Charlotte getting the 1 cent sales tax referendum approval in that branch, as you know is running for the congressional seat in the newly redrawn 14th district. This district now includes part of North Mecklenburg County and Lake Norman towns and cities. While this district was designed to lean red, this guy has been the poster child of the rural urban divide, and of despising the urban areas to the fullest extent possible to provide for rural areas. He is not a person who will or should champion the urban needs of Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and the other rapidly urbanizing areas of the 14th. His vile actions against urban areas should be blasted across the district to the point that he either loses or will have to cut a deal ie approve  or compromise on the 1 cent tax and support a referendum to get elected. He needs the support of the Northern Mecklenburg cities and towns, but unless he can find more state money, the 1 cent tax referendum needs to be approved by the NCGA  to fund a Red Line which now may cost up to a couple of billions.  Trying to get the favor of the voters is the reason he found a few crumbs for improvements on the I85-485 interchange. He needs to painfully learn that is not enough to buy this district or be elected to represent people he has in the past treated like they were his enemies. 

 

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

13 hours ago, kermit said:

They are not legally able to apply for transit funding at the moment because they need permission from the right wing nut jobs in Raleigh before they can get a local funding match.

Gateway station is fully funded, its hold up is with the private developer getting started. (The private developer is paying to build the station as part of the larger project on Gateway area land which was given to them by the city and state in return for a station). Given that this developer agreement is still in place no grant application for Gateway would be considered.

Local transit expansion will require local match dollars to be obligated in the grant application. The NCGA must give Mecklenburg County permission before we can vote to increase our own taxes, the NCGA is currently refusing to allow us to have that vote because “taxes and freedom” or some horsecrap like that.  Tim moore did say he would be happy to give us permission to vote on a new tax that would expand roads however.

While I am not saying that the current city government would be doing a good job of moving the Silver Line towards construction if they were able, they are not the cause of this huge missed opportunity. This is 100% on anti-urban state politicians.

Thanks for the explanation on the train station. The city could use the resources available to extend the blue line. It has the 1/4th cent sales tax, taxes on rental cars, property taxes and add a special tax on areas that would be within a certain distance of a train station. If the city used a combination of these it would seem they could still apply for federal funding without needing to bother with the NCGA.

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

Please excuse me. I am new to this and still trying to get my bearings.

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

2 minutes ago, Eastern said:

3 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I’ve said it before. The level of spending on rail transit has been historical and majorly game changing. The government is hardcore spending on urban issues. Charlotte needs progressive leadership because it’s raining federal $’s even with unfriendly Republican-led states.

The DOT will even be award billions in conversions and development along transit stations. I’ve mostly been following federal dollars for the Bos-Wash corridor + VA and my lord, I have no idea on how many dozens of billions in rail transit has been announced the last 2 years. California has had billions announced I though this year for HSR and again today a new $6Billion towards ($3B each) california HSR & Bright line Vegas - Inland Empire

Pete Buttigieg keeps reiterating - grants will go to projects that (I) are transformative and (II) big enough grants to move projects forward rather than a bunch of small impact projects (<1 mile streetcars) or grants that can’t fully push projects to start imminently. 

It’s been prettt obvious Raleigh was destined to be plugged into the NEC next and will have a fairly robust state-level network. I don’t think Charlotte will have as extensive as a network (geography and location of tracks) but I do think it’s the next logical extension and there Atlanta. Though I’ll be old or dead. I’m fine with Raleigh for now. 

Expand  

Why are the Charlotte mayor and city council not advocating for money from the fed? Are they asleep, dead? Money like this may not be available again for decades. They could at least try to get some to start on the uptown train station, extend the blue line north and south. 

[Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements]

3 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I’ve said it before. The level of spending on rail transit has been historical and majorly game changing. The government is hardcore spending on urban issues. Charlotte needs progressive leadership because it’s raining federal $’s even with unfriendly Republican-led states.

The DOT will even be award billions in conversions and development along transit stations. I’ve mostly been following federal dollars for the Bos-Wash corridor + VA and my lord, I have no idea on how many dozens of billions in rail transit has been announced the last 2 years. California has had billions announced I though this year for HSR and again today a new $6Billion towards ($3B each) california HSR & Bright line Vegas - Inland Empire

Pete Buttigieg keeps reiterating - grants will go to projects that (I) are transformative and (II) big enough grants to move projects forward rather than a bunch of small impact projects (<1 mile streetcars) or grants that can’t fully push projects to start imminently. 

It’s been prettt obvious Raleigh was destined to be plugged into the NEC next and will have a fairly robust state-level network. I don’t think Charlotte will have as extensive as a network (geography and location of tracks) but I do think it’s the next logical extension and there Atlanta. Though I’ll be old or dead. I’m fine with Raleigh for now. 

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

On 11/3/2023 at 9:19 AM, kermit said:

And while Moore was here peacocking about finding $45 million taxpayer dollars in his couch cushions he decided to twist the knife in the heart of transit expansion again by saying Charlotte residents are not smart enough to decide how to spend our own money:

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2023/11/03/tim-moore-vi-lyles-transit-taxes-nc-ncga.html

He says "we don't have a shortage of dollars", Charlotte and Mecklenburg county leaders need to take him up on that and go get this money that the state has. Call his bluff.

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

20 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

You disagree that there isn’t an adequate liberal / progressive political coalition in NC that can effectively communicate to North Carolinians all over the state (rural, coastal, Appalachia & the Piedmont) an alternative to the NC GOP & Tim Moore?  You think the NC Democrats have done all they could to show North Carolinians what their legislative priorities could do for their communities vs. what the NC GOP is offering? Particularly in a climate where NC is economically prosperous?
 

I’m just not sure what you find horrible? 
 

You have to *explain* to all of North Carolina why returning to the historical corporate tax rate is good for them (and the inevitable backlash from the largest employers in NC…). The political reality in our country is. People think of NY, CA, WA as proof of the failure of progressive laws and look at NC, FL, TX as signs that GOP is better at handling the economy. A lot of people feel lower taxes, less regulation, smaller government is good for them. How do you explain to people in Appalachia how progressive legislation improves their lives? You have to have the conversation… a conversation of why the NC Democrats deserve a chance at power in the NC Legislative branches… You have to have the conversation that the economic success of NC is inequitable or why you think it isn’t a success under GOP rule…

The case has to be made that the NC GOP isn’t delivering on the economy & “dinner table” issues for North Carolinians. If that case can’t be made - then under GOP rule will it remain (ignoring statewide races)

 

Davidclt gave multiple reasons why the GOP in NC is horrible and you just ignored it. The economy is only one issue that falls under the bigger issue of quality of life. Health care here could be a lot better. The life expectancy is decreasing and is worst than the national average. NC's Infant mortality rate is worst than Cuba's. The maternal mortality rates are terrible also. Many small towns are dying, while too many no longer have a dr living there. There are lots of areas in the state that are healthcare deserts and people have to drive 50 miles or more to find a trauma level hospital. NC education standards are low and the GOP wants even lower HS graduation requirements. Our teachers are leaving in droves and fewer are left who can inspire students to become leaders, while hundreds of millions are being poured into charter schools that have few measures of accountability. This year's GOP overlords in the NCGA had a chance to deal with two central issues that could have drastically improved the quality of life for many of their constituents, the childcare crisis and Medicaid expansion. Childcare is a costly item for many households and the industry is hurting from a lack of employees. Childcare costs are high, but wages for employees are abysmal and people are leaving for better wages. Little if anything was done to help solve the crisis though they were begged to address it. Instead of increasing the child tax credit, they gave a tax cut to industry.  Secondly, the Medicaid expansion glitches were resolved early on but the GOP's leaders dragged their feet for months, keeping over half a million people waiting, many in need of better healthcare while they  bickered trying to get gambling approved. Gambling, something that's tiny in importance. The GOP is about aggregating power and money. They don't want a well educated, healthy, confident citizenry because they would be hard to control. Your GOP (the very ones who claim to dislike big government) has run on social issues, gerrymandering, limiting accountability through public records access, so that they can broaden their control while threatening and denying home rule on the city and county level.  The job recruitment is a joint effort of the GOP and governor and gov. Cooper is doing a great job on that. Toyota's decision to add 3,000 jobs to its battery plant under construction came after his visit to Japan. NC may be a top ranked company for recruiting industry but if you can't keep providing a skilled, healthy workforce, and a good quality of life, the companies you are recruiting are going elsewhere because it takes more than just tax cuts to run a successful company.

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

Charlotte and Mecklenburg county should cut a secret deal to be annexed by SC in exchange for being given the right to have a Pennies for Progress program like the one in York County but with the 1 cent sales tax dedicated to transit and have no sunset clause. See more on the program in York County here https://www.cn2.com/pennies-for-progress-program-update/ 

Losing the  big chunk of revenue that the rogue republican dictatorship at the NCGA gets from Charlotte and Mecklenburg County would cripple the state  for decades and wake up even their most hardened  anti-urban supporters to the value of this county and its needs.

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

Elections are coming soon in Charlotte. Its time to get visionaries into office. Not just seat warmers with smiling faces. Sweep all of the do nothings out of office from the mayor down and get a new city manager who knows the power of good logistics. Vote and take two people to the poles with you.

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

Tim Moore is clueless about the urban needs of the state's largest cities. If he thinks you can pave your way out of traffic congestion, he needs to cough up the billions of dollars needed.

 

[Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction]

14 hours ago, kayman said:

It doesn't. The fiber optic installation into the pavement due to repaving area of installation is the most costly expenditures. There's already a regional network or traffic cameras that allows real-time monitoring of roadway conditions and congestion volumes. 

That's why I am going to keep my foot on NCDOT's neck about how they constantly underfund Charlotte while over-accommodating the Triangle on for things a much larger urban area like a regional ramp metering system, limited-access conversion with local access roads of Independence (and possibly Brookshire). All of these things  are needed like yesterday.

The bottleneck where westbound lanes are merging from 485 onto 85 is horrendous. It goes from 4 lanes down to one. There was a similar problem in the Triangle where 2 westbound lanes off 540 merged into one lane to get on 40 but not as bad. NCDOT fixed that a few years ago. You need to stay on them hard until they fix it. That traffic gridlock unacceptable.