Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[deleted]

26 minutes ago, JoshuaDrown said:

Three of my favorite things in this photo from Kansas City's streetcar:  A modern vehicle, adaptive reuse of a historic building, and a giant mural. We nee more of all three in Charlotte. Goodness, I really wish we had opened the Gold Line with modern vehicles, I think they add so much to the public's perception that the streetcar is for transit and not a gimmick.  

KC is a great and very underrated city.  

[Scribe]

3 hours ago, JBS said:

KC is a great and very underrated city.  

Last time I was there was 4 years ago, but it reminded me of Charlotte circa 2005. Not the size, but downtown activity after work hours. The city was dead! Maybe that has changed in the last 4 years.

[kermit]

Is CATS getting a little passive aggressive?

They should have posted a photo.

[Matthew.Brendan]

The city should not be liable for damage caused to cars blocking the tracks. No reason for them to need to wait until the car is moved, they can assist with that. 

[Synopsis101]

On 1/14/2018 at 2:23 PM, AirNostrumMAD said:

So will the streetcars look like the blue line designs with gold instead of blue? 

Wish they would use the Siemens renderings 

Stupid decision indeed.

[pathb]

[rancenc]

1 hour ago, pathb said:

Idiotic drivers out there!

 

[kermit]

Lesson for Charlotte:

The evidence keeps pouring in from Toronto's dedicated ROW experiment for its King St streetcar:

Ridership has increased by 16% thanks to improved reliability and expanded capacity and there has been no negative impact on businesses along the route (which was initially feared due to removal of on-street parking):

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2018/02/16/spending-on-king-st-up-since-streetcar-pilot-began.html

[dubone]

YES PLEASE!   We have dedicated lanes all over the place for random occasional left turners.  We have lanes for street parking.  We have medians to separate traffic.  Put the streetcar in it's own median in as many sections as feasible.

Trade can easily handle this, although they made a strategic error doing the road diet on Elizabeth that dropped it to one shared lane with the other dedicated to street parking.  

Additionally, I think that dedicating the right of way can allow for some routing of the light rail on the same corridor for some short stretches.   

 

With the Gold Line now being a city endeavor, I think it should simply be added to incrementally with a streetscape project that puts a dedicate transitway median in the center.  It can be combined with closure of left turns, making those densifying boulevards "super streets" where a U-turn or jug handle at lights replaces all the dangerous chaotic mid block left turns. 

 

[SgtCampsalot]

This probably has nothing to do with our streetcar system, but a few weeks ago I was driving south on 77-N and drove by this old streetcar bus being trucked south.

It says "Philadelphia Trolley [something something)". Probably being used for our gold rush bus fleet, or going to Belmont (aren't they doing a bus trolley)?

 

Edited February 27, 2018 by SgtCampsalot

[kermit]

15 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

...or going to Belmont (aren't they doing a bus trolley)?

Nah, they have the real thing. IIRC they are almost finished with their trolley rehab.

[kermit]

Edited March 4, 2018 by kermit

[JoshuaDrown]

18 hours ago, kermit said:

Really great shot, but that vehicle... Goodness I look forward to the day when a modern streetcar moves through that space.

[Guest]

On 2/26/2018 at 9:50 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

This probably has nothing to do with our streetcar system, but a few weeks ago I was driving south on 77-N and drove by this old streetcar bus being trucked south.

It says "Philadelphia Trolley [something something)". Probably being used for our gold rush bus fleet, or going to Belmont (aren't they doing a bus trolley)?

 

haha, thats mine, I'm shipping it down south from Philadelphia for a marketing event.

[JacksonH]

On 2/10/2018 at 4:23 AM, Matthew.Brendan said:

The city should not be liable for damage caused to cars blocking the tracks. No reason for them to need to wait until the car is moved, they can assist with that. 

I was in New Orleans once on a trolley and a car was in the way.  The trolley struck the car, but kept going.  Of course, the trolley conductor was also drunk.  It was New Orleans after all!

[SgtCampsalot]

On 3/5/2018 at 11:33 AM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

haha, thats mine, I'm shipping it down south from Philadelphia for a marketing event.

Well THAT'S convenient!

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Well THAT'S convenient!

Pretty nice coincidence. Its what I do for a living, marketing events on transit vehicles, tour buses and food trucks

[EllAyyDub]

A bit confused I drove by (couldn't get a picture) Hawthorne going down 7th towards uptown && on the left (part of Hawthorne between the park) looked like it had been completely repaved and opened.  There had been fences completely blocking it before.  

My question is why aren't there streetcar tracks in the new pavement?  

[southslider]

1 minute ago, EllAyyDub said:

My question is why aren't there streetcar tracks in the new pavement?  

That's temporary pavement following utility work.  Drivers may not like seeing the street closed the entire time between utility work and track work.

[archiham04]

plus, you can't leave the street open and soaking up water for months upon months.  All those utilities get used to and settle into a relatively dry soil condition due to the paved cover.  If they leave it open for another year (or 5) they could start to have problems.

[nicholas]

On 3/14/2018 at 3:15 PM, archiham04 said:

plus, you can't leave the street open and soaking up water for months upon months.  All those utilities get used to and settle into a relatively dry soil condition due to the paved cover.  If they leave it open for another year (or 5) they could start to have problems.

Dude, don't even give them any ideas, otherwise they might actually take five years to complete this project.

Edited March 22, 2018 by nicholas

[pathb]

http://charlottenc.gov/cats/transit-planning/gold-line/PublishingImages/2018-03-13 Elizabeth Community Association Meeting.pdf

 

Project update presented at a public meeting organized by the Elizabeth Community Association a couple of weeks ago. 

[go_vertical]

How long of a gap should we expect to see between the opening of GL 2 and Gateway?

[kermit]

4 hours ago, go_vertical said:

How long of a gap should we expect to see between the opening of GL 2 and Gateway?

Maybe two years, but nobody really knows since there is not yet a developer selected for phase 2 of gateway and there has been conflicting information about amtrak being able to use the phase 1 product.

Edited March 28, 2018 by kermit

[go_vertical]

That's mildly annoying but at least it's finally happening. If Amtrak won't be able to use phase one and no commuter rail to speak of then what will phase one be utilized for? Also, will phase two start immediately after or should we expect a pause in construction? 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what GL 2 and GS does to the street activity on Trade and 4th. I know there isn't a tremendous amount of available space nearby but after this infrastructure is in place I feel this side of uptown will experience one of the biggest transformations during the next cycle.