Lynx Blue Line (South Corridor)

[dubone]

Actually, he was referring to the Citiline project which is on the other side of the tracks from the Bonded Distribution development project. However, HHHunt, who is doing the Bonded Distribution site has somewhat tied itself to the Citiline project. They both asked for the extension of Poindexter. I'm SO glad they seem to have agreed to do that. At one point, the city was opposed to that extension.

[queensguy06]

The gas station on the NE corner of Woodlawn and South Blvd has been 'dozed.

I swear, this intersection is a recordkeeper for me. Construction has been going on for so long, I've forgotten when it started.

[reverbandwhiskey]

I noticed they were running the trains tonight until midnight. According to one of the conductors I spoke with, they all have to take 2 hours of night training. They let me take a look inside one of the cars. They are nicer than I thought they would be!

I asked for a ride, and almost snagged one, but they thought their supervisor would get upset.

[dubone]

Where was your camera!?

Night training = trains running at night. That's pretty funny.

[sax184]

I did a little blow up image of the button that has to be pressed to open the doors. Those of you

that have traveled on Siemens vehicles before are probably used to this...but I'm guessing some

of you are not. When the train arives at the station, the LEDs surrounding the button will be red.

When the train comes to a full stop the LEDs will change to green at which time you press the button

to open the door. If you don't press the button then the doors will not open. This is done for energy

savings. Who wants all the doors to open on a cold winter day at a station that has no one waiting

for the train? Not me

[uptownliving]

Nice shot! Of course, this feature has been available on european trains for years. Nice to see it finally make it to the US!

[lptk]

Their system there will operate like ours on the honor system. I had bought a visitor's pass in Munich, Vienna, and Prague to use their transit systems....but no one ever checked my ticket. I could have riden for free

[sax184]

Yep, thats where I first encountered it was about 3 years ago in Munich on their new Siemens trains.

On their older trains they actually had metel door handles you had to pull that would activate the doors.

Their system there will operate like ours on the honor system. I had bought a visitor's pass in Munich, Vienna, and Prague to use their transit systems....but no one ever checked my ticket. I could have riden for free

[uptownliving]

Yep, it is a game of chance you play by not buying a ticket to use the system. It will be interesting to see how agressive CATS is with enforcing the South LRT honor system. I am just waiting for the day the one of the local tv stations does an "investigation" into the matter and shows their reporters with undercover cameras riding for free...lol

[monsoon]

They will probably just put regular police on the trains to check tickets. This is how it is done in other cities that are taking this approach to ticketing in the USA. It also helps to keep a check on crime that can occur on the trains.

[Mobuchu]

Parking deck construction at 485, kinda boring, but incase anyone is interested:

11-10-06

Unfortunatly I didn't take these at the same location but here is the Scaleybark area from March and again in November. I like progress pics..

3-22-06

11-11-06

[MZT]

The reconstruction on South Blvd is starting to pay off. It looks like they're done (or very near done) at the Tyvola intersection. Now there's actually sidewalk at all 4 coners of it, with double lefts.

And they're still relocating the poles on the east side of South Blvd in some sections, so we could see some more widening and improvements.

[MZT]

Bump. The 2030 Plan thread is on fire tonight from the vote. But I'll comment, that wiring is now being laid through the Scaleybark section, and a bit south beyond the Old Pineville intersection.

Trains to Woodlawn before '07 just may happen.

[RiverwoodCLT]

I heard that CATS has 6 trains in now. They will have a yard full by the end of the year.

[monsoon]

I heard that CATS has 6 trains in now. They will have a yard full by the end of the year.

[Mobuchu]

Ok, but where do you get that from? I think it has been said on here that these trains are already bought and paid for. They all need to go through a long break in period. 1000 miles on just 1 mile of track, plus multiple safety checks, training, etc...

I just dont want someones thoughts and opinions to come accross as facts. Mistakes have been made, but I'm sure they still know what they are doing better then we do. You may be right, but we cant make statements that there are millions lost because we are guessing it is costing more to have the trains now as opposed to later.

[ChiefJoJo]

I don't see what this has to do with CATS. Most of CATS cost overruns, in fact the vast majority of that, is related to bungling, and incompetence in its staff who can't seem to manage a construction project.

[monsoon]

I don't believe that is the case. Yes, there were issues with the faulty designs and those with Norfolk Southern, but the majority were due to the high bid on the station/platform construction work. CATS actually did what most people would say is a good thing by allowing local contractors to bid on the job, but not a single one did. Is that CATS fault?,,,,,,

[ChiefJoJo]

Yeah, I brought it back over here because it is more about the S LRT...

Tober to his credit did offer his resignation to Syfert after all the overruns came out in the news. What else should he do? I would say that you could have put Donald Trump in that position and things would not have too been much different. Building anything of a significant scale in the last few years has been exceedingly difficult. At least the thing is getting built.

It was obvious to me that he has lost the confidence of many on the MTC.

About the FFGA, yes I know. I am pretty sure too that political connections had as much to do with the S. LRT getting approved more than anything else.

[monsoon]

This article was written before the problems with the South LRT were known. It's amazing how their warnings became reality. I smell a rot in what happened that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of and which has been covered up by everyone involved.

[uptownliving]

That Tara Servatious article that originally appeared in Creative Loafing a few years ago has certainly made its rounds. She makes some good points, however most of her ire is projected at Parsons Brinkerhoff...which is the one with the bad reputation...well they didn't do any work on the South LRT line. The problem has been with Parsons Transportation Group...which does (did) have a good reputation. They are the ones that the city basically fired about a year ago due to their poor work.

It will be interesting to watch and see how this all plays out.

[uptownliving]

City Council has now approved the ammended FFGA for the South LRT line. This will now go to the Congress in Janurary for a 30-Day Review period. At this point it is just a matter of formality as all the change orders for the contracts have been approved by the City Council.

[MZT]

This is probably a good 30 day window. The lame ducks are in no mood to do much but window-dress legislation, and get out.

Minor line update ... I saw Caterpillars out grading the future parking lot at Archdale & South Blvd today.

[Neo]

Last weekend I took a short walk downtown and noticed the banner for the new line at 6th Street has what looks like a road from left to right at the bottom. Why is there a road on the banner when this is rail transit?

[cyrusuncc]

LOL, thats funny!