Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[tozmervo]

I think it's because they have to maintain very significant clearance on either side and above the freight line (and future HSR) with no intermediate supports. With roads they can push right up to the curb or make cars move over a couple of feet. 

[dcharlotte]

52 minutes ago, DavieNative said:

That's impressive! But did they really need to make it so enormous to pass over a couple of tracks? That thing must have cost half the budget for the extension.  

Built for the future. Has to clear most of the ROW for the main lines, including the future ones. It is like a 150' ROW through there all the way until Raleigh. Easily one of the best protected transportation routes in the state, should the state truly start to take advantage of it. 

[kermit]

Cat wire is now up around Parkwood, wiring the storage yard is about to begin.

The CSX bridge continues to drag.

[tozmervo]

Few snaps from a journey up North Tryon, including the bridges at Old Concord, I85 connector, UC blvd and the UC blvd parking deck.

[SgtCampsalot]

Man, there must have been so many people in the planning stages who said this project scope was way, way too big. Incredible

Edited January 31, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[Desert Power]

Certainly seems to be a lot more of this type of stuff to keep it out of the street compared to the initial, southern stretch

[AuLukey]

I'm honestly not a fan of how the hills leading up to the bridges cut Tryon in half.  I'm not sure the existence of the LRT line is going to increase property value at the major intersections in UC because of such a reduced visibility.  These things are huge.  I'm sure the cost to have the incline/decline entirely bridged was too cost prohibitive, but I feel like their presence detracts from the area's potential to improve.

[kermit]

^ I agree they are huge and imposing, but are they any worse than looking at (or trying to cross) a six lane road?

Edited January 31, 2016 by kermit

[SgtCampsalot]

I do think CATS did a better job of integrating the BLE into its suburban portions than the original Blue Line. The alternative of the bridges would have been at-grade intersections, which in many ways I'd be fine with (like the countless other cities) but would never fly with the current built environment. Maybe in 75 years the developed transit neighborhoods along N Tryon St will petition to tear down their "blasted bridge!" and unify the area even more 

[orulz]

Something unique about the southern blue line among other light rail lines is that it has full signal pre-emption, meaning there is no place along the entire line where trains have to stop for cars and all grade crossings are protected with gates and flashers. Basically, that gives the blue line the same performance characteristics of a heavy rail line.

Having ridden on many light rail lines where that is NOT the case, it is rather frustrating to have to stop waiting for vehicular traffic at multiple places along the line, not to mention that it can cause bunching. Again let me emphasize how unique Charlotte is for NOT doing that.

Is the BLE designed to the same standard? Will all the crossings on North Tryon be protected by gates? I suspect that these grade separations are being done mostly to maintain similar performance characteristics to the Blue Line at places where cross traffic is too heavy to grant full pre-emption to trains. 

[tozmervo]

As far as I know, all the at-grade intersections will handled identically to those on the south line. I've asked on the twitters for confirmation.

At-grade (7): 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th st Extension, 12th, 16th, & some kind of maintenance/employee access at the north storage yard.

From the North Storage Yard to Old Concord, no intersections.

At-grade signalized intersection (12): Orr Rd, Arrowhead Dr, Owen Blvd, Tom Hunter Rd, Orchard Trace Ln, UC Blvd Station Parking Access, University Point Blvd, McCullough Dr, Ken Hoffman Dr, JM Keynes Dr, JW Clay Blvd, CRI/Shopping Cntr access. I would generally expect these to act like the Clanton/South intersection.

[SgtCampsalot]

Yeah, the main difference (Other than Scaleybark) is that the south line went through side-street intersections, parallel to South Blvd, whereas the BLE goes through main intersections, through N Tryon. So the bridges become desirable for your typical auto commuter.

Edited February 1, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[Spartan]

Yes, the extension will have signal preemption too. Every intersection will have crossing gates.

[AP3]

Pedestrian bridge construction has started at the JW Clay Station!  Would've snapped a pic, but it was pouring outside.

[nmundo]

1 hour ago, AP3 said:

Pedestrian bridge construction has started at the JW Clay Station!  Would've snapped a pic, but it was pouring outside.

I got this last week. I meant to go back and take a better pic but haven't gotten a chance yet. I don't know how much farther along it is by now.

[DavieNative]

Do we know what the time table is for expanding the rest of the platforms on the blue line? Is it possible that they could have it done by the completion of the BLE? 

[kermit]

2 hours ago, DavieNative said:

Do we know what the time table is for expanding the rest of the platforms on the blue line? Is it possible that they could have it done by the completion of the BLE? 

Nope. The last quarterly report said CATS planned to get a Core Capacity Enhancement grant for the remainder of the platforms sometime after the BLE is scheduled to open. The will have a stronger case for the grant with the new ridership numbers. I am guessing a minimum of five years before we see regular three car trains. This is not a tragedy, higher frequency short trains are much better for ridership than low frequency long trains.

Edited February 4, 2016 by kermit

[kermit]

Rail has now been laid from 7th st to the LSC bridge. The CSX bridge was the last holdup but it is now complete. The is still a good bit of work to do on alignment and ballast, but I suspect we will see the north storage yard in use by early May if not sooner (without electrics).

8th, 9th and 12th streets will be briefly closed next week for crossing signal installation (I believe)

 

Edited February 11, 2016 by kermit

[tozmervo]

In a story today, CATS's construction manager said that trains will be running on the BLE by August 2017. http://wfae.org/post/final-blue-line-rail-bridge-going-change-way

[Deleted.]

10 hours ago, tozmervo said:

In a story today, CATS's construction manager said that trains will be running on the BLE by August 2017. http://wfae.org/post/final-blue-line-rail-bridge-going-change-way

Wasn't that the plan all along?

[staffer]

19 hours ago, tozmervo said:

In a story today, CATS's construction manager said that trains will be running on the BLE by August 2017. http://wfae.org/post/final-blue-line-rail-bridge-going-change-way

UNCC fall semester starts 8/15/2017, with classes beginning 8/21/17, so I'm sure they'd like to get the system running by then

[tozmervo]

8 hours ago, Piedmont767 said:

Wasn't that the plan all along?

Basically, it is noteworthy that it is still true.

[SgtCampsalot]

I visited The Last Word on N Tryon next to the Old Concord Rd bridge, got a chance to see the feel of that block as the bridge comes down into the median. Makes me wonder how that block might develop, if it does. There are a select few interesting buildings up toward Orr Rd, all weirdly distinct from one another:
 

Looking South, toward Old Concord Rd intersection:

Looking North, toward Orr Rd intersection:

Edited February 14, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[ah59396]

If I was a gambling man, I'd wager those buildings sit vacant for a while, until they get torn down.  This isn't really a prime area, and I don't know if we will see an abrupt change with the light rail.

[Niner National]

1 hour ago, ah59396 said:

If I was a gambling man, I'd wager those buildings sit vacant for a while, until they get torn down.  This isn't really a prime area, and I don't know if we will see an abrupt change with the light rail.

Agree, but who knows. If the book store there is popular, maybe it'll spur some other activity in the adjacent buildings. It's a long shot though as that area is still pretty nasty.