Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[ajfunder]

I assume extending the platforms at Tyvola and Archdale will be fairly costly since they are both elevated and will require retrofits to extend the platform.

[grodney]

The Publix crossing would be very far from either Remount or Tremont crossings.

That is true.  Are you saying that's all the *more* reason to put in the ped crossing?

Put in the ped crossing, complete with arms if you wish.  Lower the train speed north of Remount.  What else needs done?  

Use some of that $20 million extra the BLE has -- I'm sure nobody will notice.  Or Publix and the other businesses should be able to easily cover the cost of the new ped crossing.

[nonillogical]

That is true.  Are you saying that's all the *more* reason to put in the ped crossing?

Put in the ped crossing, complete with arms if you wish.  Lower the train speed north of Remount.  What else needs done?  

Use some of that $20 million extra the BLE has -- I'm sure nobody will notice.  Or Publix and the other businesses should be able to easily cover the cost of the new ped crossing.

I'm still not 100% sure, but I've been watching the construction behind Publix every day and it LOOKS like the crossing is happening. The path extension from Publix to Tremont on that side has become a pretty big job and it would make sense to do both at the same time. The train speed has always been very variable in this area, with some coming in quite fast but every 3rd or so crawling towards Tremont, so it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal at all to decrease speed here across the board.

[kermit]

construction is moving along between 7th and 277. This photo is from 7th street. Its tough to make out in the photo but rollers on the ties indicate that rail should be set here shortly. There is also a new set of really big and ugly overhead utilities on the left of the photo (at the western edge of Market street). I am 75% sure these are temporary since all the wires appear to tie into the catenary at 7th street. Based on appearances I think 8th and 9th streets will open soon.

Work was also happening around Bland street where a couple large vertical beams were being set adjacent to the tracks along with some separate cat pole tie-ins. They are steel I beams that are a bit shorter than the cat poles. Kinda confused about what they will become. 

One downside of the current streetcar setup is that when the Blue Line is shut down the streetcar is as well (that is how it looked today). I assume the French St storage facility in Phase 2 will fix that.

Edited September 13, 2015 by kermit

[Third Strike]

Progress is looking really good. Are we looking at early or late 2017 for completion?

Here's a couple of pictures from UNC Charlotte from Flickr:

Images by Shawn Smith, on Flickr.

[kermit]

Progress is looking really good. Are we looking at early or late 2017 for completion?

CATS has been VERY tight-lipped about progress on the construction schedule. Progress does look good, but quite a few early tasks had 4ish month delays with the Eastway bridge project being the biggest offender. I am also concerned about the bridge over Harris blvd (no visible progress there other than road widening), the 36th street overpass and the Sugar Creek grade separation (NCDOT is leading the Sugar Creek project and they _may_ be under political pressure to go slow).

The biggest delays on the Blue Line were from locations where CATS had to get Norfolk Southern employees to monitor safety around the active freight lines, NS was reluctant to furnish enough workers for CATS to work on multiple sites at once. This issues will be an ever bigger problem with the BLE since it has a larger 'conflict zone' and BLE construction is simultaneous with the stimulus-funded double tracking on the NCRR.

In short, there is good and bad news about BLE schedule and honestly I have no idea how it will shake out (and how much padding they built into their schedule). I'll be a daily rider when the BLE opens, but I am an inveterate pessimist so I still assume that revenue service will not begin before November 2017.

 

[Nolan]

I believe they can't start the Sugar Creek grade separation until the Eastway bridge is reopened. Closing down Sugar Creek to start the grade separation will eliminate the only thoroughfare to North Tryon and over the RR corridor from East Charlotte.  The Eastway bridge is creating a ripple effect on construction schedule. 

[southslider]

Fortunately,  Eastway reopens this month.

[kermit]

Progress is looking really good. Are we looking at early or late 2017 for completion?

I looked up the original construction timeline for the BLE:  http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/BLE/projectfacts/Documents/2012 0723 - BL45 Construction Summary.pdf

According to the timeline, track construction on segment A-1 (from 7th street to Mecklenburg Mill) is scheduled to be complete on October 22nd 2015.

The storage yard tracks were scheduled to be complete on August 10th.

Based on those two data points I am _guessing_ the BLE is currently about two months behind schedule. Two months isn't bad and likely within their padding. That said, it does not leave much room for delay with the 36th street overpass.

Track construction north of Craighead was originally scheduled to begin February 2016 and complete in July.

The original schedule shows construction finished in January 2017. I believe that there is at least 6 months of testing to follow construction before revenue service can begin. (6 months is consistent with the Blue Line and the just opened Portland Orange line. The Minneapolis Green Line required 10 months of testing)

Edited September 14, 2015 by kermit

[nmundo]

In one of the comments on the BLE Facebook page they stated that track construction in uptown will begin within the next 2 months it does not seem that they are horribly behind schedule.

[birky]

Is there a chance CATS would open up the rail trail along the BLE well before service begins? Just curious. Seems like they could open it up as soon as construction is complete.

Edited September 15, 2015 by birky

[uptownliving]

So if the current NC Budget proposal is passed it would mean that NC funding of the Blue Line expansion would be limited to $500K per year. This would mean it would take 500 years for NC to pay for their share of of the BLE that they have already committed to funding. 500 years!!! This effectively kills the BLE as they will have to reduce the budget by 25%. And you can forget about any future expansion of light rail anywhere in North Carolina. 

This current GOP controlled legislature is the most Anti-Urban legislature in decades!

[SgtCampsalot]

This doesn't change the funding for the BLE, that's been set in stone.

On the bright side, though, by the early 2020s, NC independent redistricting will likely take effect, leveling off the playing field for the state's legislature, who will in turn create a budget more sympathetic to the urban districts. And it's safe to say Charlotte won't get the Silver Line figured out until early-mid 2020s anyway, so in the mean time it will just make them do what they'd be doing anyway (researching/planning the lines), and when financing time comes, they'll at least have done their homework on all the other funding sources by then.

That's the optimistic side, though.

[kermit]

^ 598 years actually, but who is really counting...

no doubt about it, the crew in Raleigh is a bunch of asshats. But this slow payment strategy was anticipated and (IIRC) CATS obtained a loan from the FTA last year to advance the state's portion of the construction tab. That said, I am having trouble finding documentation for that, there is a bit of info upthread from Southsider on the subject.

the legislature certainly has a pattern of pushing costs down to cities in order to make themselves look good and to make city governments look bad. One more bad state election and it will be time for the Great State of Mecklenburg to suceed secede (damn spelling).(<-- this was meant to be somewhat sarcastic)

Edited September 15, 2015 by kermit

[uptownliving]

Yes, you are talking about the Federal TIFIA Loan which could be approved any day now for the Blue Line....However that loan is modeled on the State taking about 13 years to pay off their part of the Blue Line. If the budget compromise is approved then they will have to remodel the loan on 500 year terms....which obviously don't exist....which means there is a good chance the TIFIA Loan from the Federal Government will be denied as there would be no realistic way of paying it off.

[kermit]

^ So does anyone here know the details of how the Full Funding Grant Agreement works. The agreement which was signed by the city, state and feds obligates all three parties to pay their share of the BLE costs. The agreement also includes a contractual deadline for finishing construction which is certainly sooner than 500 years. Surely there are some timeliness of payment clauses in the contract that will apply to the state?  Right? (I asked hopefully)

[Silicon Dogwoods]

^ 598 years actually, but who is really counting...

no doubt about it, the crew in Raleigh is a bunch of asshats. But this slow payment strategy was anticipated and (IIRC) CATS obtained a loan from the FTA last year to advance the state's portion of the construction tab. That said, I am having trouble finding documentation for that, there is a bit of info upthread from Southsider on the subject.

the legislature certainly has a pattern of pushing costs down to cities in order to make themselves look good and to make city governments look bad. This is exactly what the Reagan administration did to the states in the 1980s and the national debt still tripled by the time Reagan left office. One more bad state election and it will be time for the Great State of Mecklenburg to suceed. Secede, but your point is well-taken. Unfortunately, almost impossible to accomplish.

[SgtCampsalot]

As cool and wonderful as the state of Mecklenburg would be, I'd feel a bit like the Ballantyne-seceders.

Edited September 15, 2015 by SgtCampsalot

[ah59396]

We do have a history of declaring independence....

[tozmervo]

What is really screwed is the Triangle's light rail aspirations, notably the Durham-Orange line. 

[15895]

What is really screwed is the Triangle's light rail aspirations, notably the Durham-Orange line. 

I thought for sure that that was going to happen very soon. I thought the Feds were planning to fund the Orange line?

 

This just proves in my opinion why we should focus on the Gold Line. With upgrades like synced lights and some dedicated ROW's and having its own lanes, it can be just as good as Light Rail. Some light rails operate just like the Gold Line. We need to get creative. Get the airport on board and use airport land for gold line extension, among many other things.

 

 

on the bright side, municipalities can raise fee's on vehicles from 5$ up to $30 now

[ajfunder]

^Could LRT be funded through the vehicle tax?

[archiham04]

This doesn't change the funding for the BLE, that's been set in stone.

On the bright side, though, by the early 2020s, NC independent redistricting will likely take effect, leveling off the playing field for the state's legislature, who will in turn create a budget more sympathetic to the urban districts. And it's safe to say Charlotte won't get the Silver Line figured out until early-mid 2020s anyway, so in the mean time it will just make them do what they'd be doing anyway (researching/planning the lines), and when financing time comes, they'll at least have done their homework on all the other funding sources by then.

That's the optimistic side, though.

I don't think there is any plan to have independent redistricting in our lifetime... it has been proposed by some legislators like Senator Jeff Jackson, but all proposals have been buried.

[kermit]

So if the current NC Budget proposal is passed it would mean that NC funding of the Blue Line expansion would be limited to $500K per year. This would mean it would take 500 years for NC to pay for their share of of the BLE that they have already committed to funding. 500 years!!! This effectively kills the BLE as they will have to reduce the budget by 25%. And you can forget about any future expansion of light rail anywhere in North Carolina. 

This current GOP controlled legislature is the most Anti-Urban legislature in decades!

actually the way the budget is written is that the legislature will pay a maximum of $500k per project (not per year per project). So this means that either the BLE was grandfathered in or the state is now in violation of the FFGA agreement.

http://ncleg.net/Sessions/2015/budget/2015/H97-PCCS30420-LRxfr-6.pdf see pdf page 386. No funding restrictions for bus rapid transit, heavy rail etc. are in the budget, the restriction only applies to LRT.  

The legislature is really playing with fire here. Some quick math reveals that Charlotte and the Triangle metro areas account for 50.3% of the state's total economic output. (the Charlotte MSA alone is 28.8% of the state's entire Gross State Product)

 

different subject: Eastway drive is now open.

Edited September 15, 2015 by kermit

[SgtCampsalot]

 

The legislature is really playing with fire here. Some quick math reveals that Charlotte and the Triangle metro areas account for 50.3% of the state's total economic output. (the Charlotte MSA alone is 28.8% of the state's entire Gross State Product)

This is why I feel like they can only go so far, and even if independent redistricting is a pipe dream, these kinds of aggressive tactics show themselves for what they are sooner or later.

different subject: Eastway drive is now open.

Hallelujah praise be praise wonder.