Lynx Blue Line (South Corridor)

[uptownliving]

When I saw the train uptown by the arena a few weeks ago, I thought it was noisier than I had been expecting. For one thing, one of the rails was resonating, and had a high pitched squeak.

[sax184]

The Minneapolis LRT has a recording of a horn played via loudpseaker, instead of a horn itself. It's still pretty loud. I guess this is the less expensive way of doing it these days.

[orulz]

There are all sorts of friction management devices that can reduce or eliminate the squeal. Basically, modern systems squirt a liquid that decreases friction onto the rail, which coats the wheel, allowing the flanges and tread to get by without the high-pitched, piercing squeal.

As far as transit is concerned, The NYC subway and the Washington Metro don't do so great on that front, but I was startled to notice that squeal was almost entirely absent on Tokyo subways, in spite of their many sharp curves and tight tunnel geometry. So it can be done.

[monsoon]

.....

As far as transit is concerned, The NYC subway and the Washington Metro don't do so great on that front, but I was startled to notice that squeal was almost entirely absent on Tokyo subways, in spite of their many sharp curves and tight tunnel geometry. So it can be done.

[Andyc545]

I could've swarn that the horn on Charlotte's LRT is not a regular horn like in a car but a digital enhancement of one, being amplified. The sound to it sounds like it is digital perfection and doesn't remind me that much of a freight train horn. It also produces less of a ring to it, that a typical horn would, by that I mean it sounds then stops immediatly, instead of longating an echo to it.

Anyway- the Trade St Station is looking good. Today, I went by to do some investigating, talked with someone on the construction crew, and snapped a few photos before it started raining on me... Today- they were finishing painting the underbelly of the bridge that grey color, and were also bricking the columns... The columns look great, and certainly continue the brick creative feel at the arena. You can see what I mean in the pics below. Also, they had the electrical lines hanging out from the white steel curved top, which is going to be for the signature blue glow. I look forward to the day that the blue glows on the station and the train goes through...

The Station-

A Finished Column, as well as an igloo that is probally full of a tasty drink, of course nonrelated to the project:

And a column being "bricked":

[Guest]

A Finished Column, as well as an igloo that is probally full of a tasty drink, of course nonrelated to the project:

[Raintree21]

The CBJ has a pretty good article today dealing with the cost overruns of the South LRT. As we know, the city and CATS were hopping mad and threatening a monster lawsuit against the Parsons, the engineering firm, for the screw-ups. They cite over 700 design errors made on the LRT as their proof of poor work. However, now the city is taking a more reconcilatory tone and saying they would like to settle it out of court.

[rooster8]

Reminds me a bit of the I-40 widening fiasco in Durham. DOT pointed fingers at the contractor for months and then they realized they screwed up too. Could be a similar situation here.

[Neo]

I was checking out the thread on Norfolk's new LRT line that was approved. Notice the canopies that they get:

I would MUCH rather have what Norfolk is getting rather than the trolley type canopies that we'll be getting. Notice that it is completely covered, you have shelter from wind, rain, etc. I also find them aesthetically pleasing.

Why couldn't CATS build something useful like Norfolk is doing for those waiting for the train?

[Andyc545]

I was checking out the thread on Norfolk's new LRT line that was approved. Notice the canopies that they get:

I would MUCH rather have what Norfolk is getting rather than the trolley type canopies that we'll be getting. Notice that it is completely covered, you have shelter from wind, rain, etc. I also find them aesthetically pleasing.

Why couldn't CATS build something useful like Norfolk is doing for those waiting for the train?

[MZT]

If they're going to make the deadline to open in late November, it will be a scramble. Most of the elevators I've stopped and examined do not look complete. They still need to surface and paint some of the park and ride lots such as Tyvola.

[RiverwoodCLT]

I was thinking the same thing. The covers will be useless in a rain with wind blow all the rain under the covers. They do not look practical.

[orulz]

Allow me to provide my input into the shelter design based on my own experience.

In North Carolina's climate, I by far prefer fully open shelters to shelters that are enclosed on three sides.

Here's why:

In NC, the main purpose for having these shelters (IMO) should be to block out the sun on hot days, since we have way more hot, sunny days than cold, rainy days.

Three-sided bus shelters (essentially what Norfolk's are) get quite sweltering on a hot day when the sun is shining, because wind can't easily blow through them to circulate the air.

In addition, open shelters give you more flexibility as far as where to stand to block the sun when the sun is low in the sky. You can easily position yourself so the roof keeps the sun out of your face. Harder to do that when there are three walls in the way.

Sure, the three-sided shelters protect you better from the rain when the wind is blowing, but then again, that's only when the wind is blowing in one particular direction, and what percentage of days are like that?

All-in-all, enclosed shelters are a very uncomfortable place to be when you're waiting for a bus... wedged in between three walls and traffic rushing by. This probably won't apply to the LRT.

The 'oven' effect of the three-sided shelters is a positive thing on cold days, but Charlotte and most of North Carolina has by far more uncomfortably hot days than uncomfortably cold days.

In my mind, the ideal canopy for the Charlotte LRT would be an open shelter that covers the entire platform or a significant part of it.

[Andyc545]

And here would have been my solution to those problems:

1) Don't use all glass, use a solid material at least partially.

2) Put fans in there to keep it cool, or substitute the breeze. Fans that run at a moderate speed will not use much electricity, plus I don't think it would be a problem considering the trains run off electric so the amount of electricity is already through the roof.

3) Well, if you had solid sides and a roof or partially, to let light in and block the sun, and use reflective materials on the inside, you wouldn't have to worry about where you stand. If someone wanted to stand in the sun, they could step outside or where the sun reflects inside. If they wanted shade they could step into the shade and keep cool.

When everything is balanced, in my opinion, these should have been more like Nashvilles. I know we are in a drought right now, so it's easy to forget how much rain we actually get. In reality, this area is known for thunderstorms and side effects of hurricanes, when it comes to disasters. Also most of the years that I had lived here, it seems that the whether often has a tendency to rain during the summer in the afternoons, yet be sunny in the mornings and evenings. Shelter protects from the elements, but from the sunny days too. I would think ridership would be far greater and customer appreciation and satisfaction would be higher, especially when you have a business person in suit and tie and makes it to work fine, but fines there is a hail and rain storm and the only way of getting home or to his car is by LRT. He may second guess his next trip by LRT and will stick to his car and park in one of the new parking decks being constructed instead......

[dubone]

I agree with O on this one. It seems that shelters with sides are a haven for graffiti and maintenance costs. I rode a SEPTA train near Philly this year and the level of graffiti and the smell of pee from homeless sleeping in the shelter over night, was far more offensive than the cold would have been. Why add cost of materials and maintenance for the walls and then try to solve its problems by throwing electricity at it, just to keep up an american tradition? The fact is, Charlotte isn't cold and even at its worst cold, a winter coat is often fine to offset it. It is much easier to stay warm in Carolina winters than to stay cool in Carolina summers. I think the shelter as we have it will keep people dry and relatively cool, and if not, then stick it out for 7 minutes and get on the train.

[Justadude]

Solid walls hide passengers (and others) from view of the street. That's a pretty significant safety concern.

I hadn't thought about it from orulz's point of view, but I'm inclined to agree that a box would be both uncomfortable and ugly. If the roofs of the canopies were larger we'd probably not be having this discussion. Maybe they can be replaced sometime in the future.

[monsoon]

One only has to go to Carowinds to see how simple it is to build a shelter that is effective in keeping people of the elements while they are waiting on a ride. They knew how to do it in the 1970s, I don't know why it is such a tough concept now. A simple fan can do wonders for keeping people cool while waiting on the people in the heat. The ones that CATS put up have 0, and I do mean zero functionality and I am sure they wasted a huge amount of money in achieving this goal. It's a matter of using a little common sense but of which this project is really lacking.

[MZT]

I do get the *impression* that the canopies won't be good for more than shade and mild drizzle. Any windy and wet weather will spead all around the base of those. I guess we'll see if they perform better than they look like they will.

Here are some updates along the route. Woodlawn looks pretty complete, the bus bays are in, the parking lot is paved and striped. There are still many nagging curbs and sidewalks remaining to complete on Old Pineville road, though.

The Tyvola station has a fair amount of incomplete work, IMO. The bus bays are not paved, the elevators and art do not look complete. I'm skeptical that CATS will get this done by the opening date. The Archdale station is even less complete, with no railings on the stairwells and graders driving around the site.

(1) Woodlawn bus bays

(2) Tyvola station base

(3) LRT at Tyvola

(4) Archdale

[MZT]

.... and a few more updates.

Condos or apartments under construction near Arrowwood station, (maybe this will help the dying shopping centers there.)

Some pictures of the 485 garage. Still plenty of paving, curbing and grading going on. It will be tough to finish it all on time but the LRT does go here now and it appears that all levels of the garage are completed.

[Mobuchu]

Thanks for the pic updates MZT. I had not seen the grading at the Tyvola station. ALOT has changed there in the last month. As other stations finish, they can concentrate on the remaining few to get them done on time. I'm wondering when the Trade st station will get its covering though?

I'm still confident everything will get finished on time since CATS seems to think they can open 2 days early for free fares. But I'm sure they will be finishing up asthetic details well into December...

[Andyc545]

Yeah- thanks for the pics. It's been a while since I've heard anything on the southern stretch of the line. It also appears from your one picture that the top of the parking deck, which is the football field is on its way or finished... I'm glad they somewhat reduced the orange on the bridge, however its still ugly....

[Raintree21]

The CBJ has a nice article today about the PR campaign beginning that is getting the word out about the opening of Lynx.

Some of the highlights:

• Unfortunately, and they don't say why, the ticket machines will not accept credit cards (cash only) for the first few weeks.

• Parking is free, a LRT ticket costs $1.30.

• There are Panthers and Checkers games the weekend that the line opens so hopefully that will increase ridership.

• Latest ridership numbers are 1.6 million for late November through June 30th and 3.6 million for the next full year (July 1 2008 - June 30 2009).

• Reid's Fine Foods has set up a shopping program where they will have groceries ready for downtown workers to pick up for their trip home.

[revitalize]

I'm really upset, i'll be out of town on thanksgiving weekend so I'll miss the free ride weekend! oh well. Looking forward to using the LYNX to get to work. I'm thinking the train will make my commute about 10-15 minutes shorter than it is now driving on I-77.

i'll take it!

[MZT]

I'm looking forward to simply having shorter waiting times between service. I'm glad Charlotte does have bus service that runs to late night, but I don't like 30-40 minute waits at the transit center. The LRT will travel only a little faster than the existing busses do, but at least it will be more frequent.

[dubone]

Today, I heard a lady at my office talking about how she can't wait for the light rail to open up. She said she will ride it to commute every time she comes uptown. She lives on lake Wylie and only works uptown part time. She is definitely not someone who could have possibly been counted as potential rider with any engineering study, for what I understand. I think it is great news to hear people already figuring out how to factor light rail into their transportation, especially people who I would not possibly imagine to be potential riders.

I have felt like this thing is forever away until recently. It is staggering to imagine that it is just 7 weeks away from opening.