Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[Matthew.Brendan]

4 hours ago, southslider said:

^It'd be less of a joke, if Silver Line would someday adapt the tracks as exclusive lanes through Uptown. But as it stands now, Silver Line will require rebuilding Gold Line at the Hawthorne bridge.  Poor planning.

Are you saying the Silver Line will require rebuilding Hawthorne bridge... again?

I can't even wrap my head around this.....

[southslider]

5 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Are you saying the Silver Line will require rebuilding Hawthorne bridge... again?

I can't even wrap my head around this.....

The preferred alignment along Independence won't have room to go under the bridge and Elizabeth's historic status won't allow the line to go over, so the bridge currently under construction will just need to be extended or rebuilt again.

[CLT704]

Is the need to re-rebuild Hawthorne official? I've seen it all on UP but nowhere else, not doubting it just wanting to see if CATS really is that braindead.

[southslider]

The current bridge reconstruction retains the existing abutments on either side of the Independence Blvd expressway. The conversion of the busway into a reversible toll lane is also planned to expand to two lanes in either direction, which also can't fit under the rebuilt bridge.  The current reconstruction only addresses the load of the bridge deck for streetcar, plus the relocation of the central pier for the initial busway conversion to a single reversible lane. Neither the unfunded Silver Line nor a second-phase and programmed expansion of the toll lanes have the room between the bridge abutments retained by Gold Line construction. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Way to go Charlotte. That’s just simply amazing. 

[KJHburg]

Saw this last night on Channel 9 about the further delays at the Hawthorne Bridge.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/elizabeth-neighbors-exhausted-after-latest-bridge-construction-delay/936612697

[tozmervo]

Elizabeth has to live with that a lot longer to match NoDa loosing 36th and Sugar Creek for years and years

[XRZ.ME]

track work proceed to gateway station
road work north of church st
they are cutting out old road pavement at JSU

Looks like enough room for trees and flowers on center of road and option for more lanes in the future


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[JacksonH]

On 3/27/2019 at 12:14 PM, tozmervo said:

 

 

So this looks like pretty sophisticated transportation, but along with these new cars is there any intention to speed up travel along the Gold Line?  I was watching a video on  Youtube of a trip along the current Gold Line route through Uptown.  It looked painfully slow.  It appeared people could get to their destination much more quickly by walking.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, JacksonH said:

 

So this looks like pretty sophisticated transportation, but along with these new cars is there any intention to speed up travel along the Gold Line?  I was watching a video on  Youtube of a trip along the current Gold Line route through Uptown.  It looked painfully slow.  It appeared people could get to their destination much more quickly by walking.

 

These modern vehicles will be able to go faster, stop faster, accelerate faster, be boarded faster and break down less. so overall yes, there should be an increase of speed. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by Guest

[JacksonH]

9 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

These modern vehicles will be able to go faster, stop faster, accelerate faster, be boarded faster and break down less. so overall yes, there should be an increase of speed. 

That's good to know.  Still I wonder, though, unlike the lightrail trains, these vehicles don't have a dedicated right of way, so it seems like they're no different than riding a bus, just a whole lot more expensive than a bus system.

[southslider]

Just road diet Trade Street 

[Guest]

That's good to know.  Still I wonder, though, unlike the lightrail trains, these vehicles don't have a dedicated right of way, so it seems like they're no different than riding a bus, just a whole lot more expensive than a bus system.

Twice the capacity, more permanent, and far less stigmatized that bus travel for whatever reason.


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[kermit]

Results of Toronto’s three-block dedicated streetcar lane project on King street:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/king-street-pilot-project-should-be-permanent-city-staff-report-says-1.5080955

We all know what needs to be done to make the Gold Line a success, we just need the sack to do it.

Edited April 4, 2019 by kermit

[tozmervo]

seen on r/UrbanHell, it seemed apropos to the discussion

 

[Guest]

22 hours ago, kermit said:

Results of Toronto’s three-block dedicated streetcar lane project on King street:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/king-street-pilot-project-should-be-permanent-city-staff-report-says-1.5080955

We all know what needs to be done to make the Gold Line a success, we just need the sack to do it.

you are so right.

[Dale]

24 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

seen on r/UrbanHell, it seemed apropos to the discussion

 

^ Warsaw, which has no shortage of trams, subways and buses.

[XRZ.ME]

Looks like Kansas City streetcar is successful, now the daily ridership is about 5k

http://kcstreetcar.org/ridership/

[Desert Power]

8 hours ago, tozmervo said:

seen on r/UrbanHell, it seemed apropos to the discussion

 

We would be lucky to ever have this much density so far from the core.

On 4/4/2019 at 3:35 PM, kermit said:

Results of Toronto’s three-block dedicated streetcar lane project on King street:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/king-street-pilot-project-should-be-permanent-city-staff-report-says-1.5080955

We all know what needs to be done to make the Gold Line a success, we just need the sack to do it.

Banning most vehicles from Trade makes too much sense to ever happen.  We're busy taking a lane out of 5th/6th instead of this.

[southslider]

Same as Toronto, Trade St could have exclusive lanes without completely banning vehicles. 

[XRZ.ME]

An exclusive lane would require higher frequency (like 5min)

15-20min interval could be hard to justify why it needs dedicated lane.

 

Or maybe share the lane with other buses?

[southslider]

^hence the Silver Line not needing a tunnel

[orulz]

Driveway access would be the problem. Between what, Church and College? Everywhere that the streetcar uses the outside lane and there is a driveway, it would be a problem. In some cases it is just a parking lot where alternate access could be arranged, but especially for the parking deck entrances between Church and College there is not an easy solution.

[southslider]

Fortunately, most of the Uptown alignment follows the inside lanes.

[nakers2]

I don't really understand why Charlotte doesn't have dedicated bus lanes in and around the urban core. Many cities smaller than Charlotte have this, Richmond and Cleveland are two recent examples I can think of, and they work.