Charlotte Center City Streetcar Network

[tusculan]

4 minutes ago, kermit said:

I thought all three companies were speccing vehicles with battery power sufficient to get through the square?

Oh, good to know. It didn't say anything about that in the Observer piece. I was only basing my info on the Brookville websited, that markets the lack of electrical connection on the Dallas streetcar.

[alb1no panther]

Anyone care to guess?  Markings for the water lines? In between Greyhound Station and Cedar Street.

[deleted]

Here's your answer:

Private utility work is starting this month. Please be advised of the upcoming traffic changes.

 

 

 

This is a courtesy notice regarding private utility work occurring in the corridor.  Construction on the Gold Line Ph. 2 project is scheduled to begin in late October, 2016.  As other utility companies perform maintenance, additional notices will be sent.  Please feel free to forward to anyone who is interested in this information.

 

 

 

The eastbound left lane of West Trade Street between Cedar Street and Graham Street will close on Monday, May 23, 2016 at 9 a.m. and will re-open on Monday, September 26, 2016 at 4 p.m. The westbound left lane will have daily closures from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the same time frame. This closure is necessary for utility relocation work. One eastbound and westbound lane will remain open to traffic.

 

 

 

Weather and unforeseen circumstances occasionally prevent work from being completed as scheduled, and make it unsafe to reopen lanes or streets when planned. When this occurs, City traffic engineers work directly with other City staff and contractors to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and reduce impacts to the traveling public.

 

 

 

Pedestrians walking near work zone areas should be alert, cautious and allow extra traveling time. It is advised they cross at signalized intersections, use pedestrian walk signals where available and abide by detour signage.

 

 

 

Motorists traveling through work zone areas should be alert and extra cautious. Drivers should get in the correct lane well in advance and constantly be on the lookout for vehicles merging into adjacent travel lanes as they approach a work zone. Drivers should double their following distance.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

Teresa  
Assistant Property Manager, Gateway Village  |  Cousins Properties Incorporated 
800 West Trade Street, Suite 100  |  Charlotte, NC 28202


 

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by JBS
removed contact info

[tozmervo]

Building on above, the Gold Line is officially claiming this project!

 

[tusculan]

A little story on starter streetcar lines in other cities, and problematic ridership levels:

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/05/12/reminder-just-laying-track-is-no-guarantee-riders-will-come/

 

[Nick2]

I was ignorant about street cars as recently as a few years ago. What I mean when I say that is I used think of San Francisco's trolleys with the dinging bells creeping along at maybe double walking speed at best - slow and inefficient. I know now that that's incorrect but I'd wager if that's how my opinion was of street cars, that's how other people feel as well. Just like the buses, street cars have a bad reputation.

Now I know how well a modern street car system can work when planned properly and put in the right location. People need to see it as a convenient means of transit where you don't have to pay attention to driving on the way into work. You don't have to find parking or pay for gas. There are plenty of benefits to riding that people just don't see. 

I hope they shelve phase 3 of the Gold line for now until the silver line and red line are both completed and especially some kind of light rail from the airport to Uptown. Simply because of the costs/benefits associated with those projects. The path of the street car is solid and it will greatly help develop a connected center city.

I used to be completely against the building of the street car lines and I still wish they would have spent the money on an additional light rail line instead but the street car has been successful so far and I look forward to seeing how phase 2 performs however I'm a little concerned about ridership once fares are introduced. Have there been any studies done to see how having a fare will affect it?

Edited May 16, 2016 by Nick2

[kermit]

^ keep in mind that the total out of pocket costs to Charlotte for Phase 1 and 2 of the streetcar are $100 million total. This would not have paid for one additional mile of the BLE. Thanks to shared row and federal cost sharing the streetcar was a bargain.

[orulz]

Charlotte's streetcar is much better conceived than most. A route that makes sense, traveling mostly in a straight line, serving actual dense neighborhoods and destinations with proven ridership potential, rather than a wish upon a star and a vain hope to spur development.

[Nick2]

I agree and that's exactly why I've changed my mind because I've learned how well they can be done and Charlotte's is one of the best examples of a proper one in the whole country.

[15895]

11 hours ago, orulz said:

Charlotte's streetcar is much better conceived than most. A route that makes sense, traveling mostly in a straight line, serving actual dense neighborhoods and destinations with proven ridership potential, rather than a wish upon a star and a vain hope to spur development.

I hate streetcars that go in a narrow loop.

 

I actually think getting the streetcar to Plaza will keep ridership steady when fares are introduced. 

I'm also not opposed to a streetcar route to the airport that has its own lanes and synced with the stoplights if the silver line doesn't connect to the airport.

[Third Strike]

Some renderings of the second phase of the Gold Line:

[tusculan]

18 hours ago, Nick2 said:

I was ignorant about street cars as recently as a few years ago. What I mean when I say that is I used think of San Francisco's trolleys with the dinging bells creeping along at maybe double walking speed at best - slow and inefficient. I know now that that's incorrect but I'd wager if that's how my opinion was of street cars, that's how other people feel as well. Just like the buses, street cars have a bad reputation.

Now I know how well a modern street car system can work when planned properly and put in the right location. People need to see it as a convenient means of transit where you don't have to pay attention to driving on the way into work. You don't have to find parking or pay for gas. There are plenty of benefits to riding that people just don't see. 

I hope they shelve phase 3 of the Gold line for now until the silver line and red line are both completed and especially some kind of light rail from the airport to Uptown. Simply because of the costs/benefits associated with those projects. The path of the street car is solid and it will greatly help develop a connected center city.

I used to be completely against the building of the street car lines and I still wish they would have spent the money on an additional light rail line instead but the street car has been successful so far and I look forward to seeing how phase 2 performs however I'm a little concerned about ridership once fares are introduced. Have there been any studies done to see how having a fare will affect it?

I think that since our streetcar is serving two functions, there ought to be a two tiered fare system. Urban circulator from Johnson and Wales to cpcc is free. After that, 5 cents per stop. This keeps it cheap enough that no one will really be upset by it, but introduces the concept that outside of uptown, it is to be used as transit, and not as a free alternative to walking a block or two.

Even if phase three is built, this would result it costing $1 from Rosa parks to uptown, and $1.50 from Eastland. I think the idea that you pay a flat rate of $1.50 per ride regardless of where you go would have a deleterious effect to people who live near central. As they would have to pay the same to go four stops as 20. At that point, why not just drive?

[alb1no panther]

Can anyone speak as to the congestion issues that will plague this service?

Right now I avoid the Gold Rush because its 15-minute intervals are a joke, largely a result of having to fight through traffic like everyone else.

A BRT lane seems like a distant afterthought, seeing as how the tracks look like they will shift back and forth across the lanes to where the platforms are placed.  This makes it doubly annoying to have to drive over.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing.  The city desperately needs it, and maybe some of those congestion issues will be reduced.  In my non-expert eyes, it looks like this could have been designed a bit more thoroughly.

BTW, I'm in the area a lot . . . so expect a TON of updates in this thread of the next 2 years 

Edited May 20, 2016 by alb1no panther

[southslider]

The segments most susceptible to congestion will be those with only one shared travel lane in each direction. This is generally west of Wesley Heights Way, plus east of Kings Drive. The latter section through CPCC to Hawthorne is already visible today, and often the slowest.

[ajfunder]

Any reason only one streetcar was running today around noon?

Edited May 21, 2016 by ajfunder

[ajfunder]

I just saw this particular rendering of the S70 streetcar on Trade Street for the first time. This is by far my favorite design of the three and it looks even better on the street IMO.

[alb1no panther]

1 hour ago, ajfunder said:

I just saw this particular rendering of the S70 streetcar on Trade Street for the first time. This is by far my favorite design of the three and it looks even better on the street IMO.

a bunch of renderings were posted a few pages back fyi

[alb1no panther]

It's STARTING!!  More tree removal, though :'(

 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Are they building in the middle of the street? Why are they taking these trees down? I am not an arborist but that doesn't look like an imminent threat of falling apart. That lush green must be disguising the rot

[CLTProductions]

2 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Are they building in the middle of the street? Why are they taking these trees down? I am not an arborist but that doesn't look like an imminent threat of falling apart. That lush green must be disguising the rot

Yeah they are doing a ton of construction in the middle of the street. The median is a goner. 

[alb1no panther]

No that looks to be the only tree they are taking out.  They are going to be tearing up some pavement, but the median stays for the most part.

[michaelef]

CityLynx has made some updates (see link below) one of the more interesting parts is that they incorporate a west line as one of the future CityLynx alignments.  It appears to be going down Cedar street near Johnson & Wales. They also have segments that say Off-wire. 

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/charlottefuture/Pages/Updates-Along-the-Line.aspx

 

Edited May 25, 2016 by michaelef
Update info

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, michaelef said:

CityLynx has made some updates (see link below) one of the more interesting parts is that they incorporate a west line as one of the future CityLynx alignments.  It appears to be going down Cedar street near Johnson & Wales. They also have segments that say Off-wire. 

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/charlottefuture/Pages/Updates-Along-the-Line.aspx

 

Woah! If there is plans to connect to the lakewood trolley that would be epic!
 

[Deleted.]

31 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Woah! If there is plans to connect to the lakewood trolley that would be epic!
 

I'm pretty sure it's the original plan to construct a streetcar line to the airport. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Piedmont767 said:

I'm pretty sure it's the original plan to construct a streetcar line to the airport. 

Ah. well thats disappointing. Street Car to airport isn't the right answer.