Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[archiham04]

brief mention this morning on NPR about legislature lifting the cap on Light Rail funding in their recent budget.  I have no details.

[kermit]

^ last I heard the house version lifted the cap but the senate budget left it in place. At the federal level trump's budget literally zeroed out new starts and small starts funding, but nobody thinks that any (many?) portions of that budget will make it through congress. 

Charlotte is at least two years away from a new funding proposal (but probably more like 4 years)

TLDR: its all still in the discussion stage and none of that means much to Charlotte.

[southslider]

^With no new corridors under final engineering, Charlotte is more like a decade away from another major investment needing New Starts-like funding.

[tozmervo]

CATS monthly newsletter shows the train on the extension

BLEupdate0517_v2.pdf

[AP3]

Looks like another QT going at the intersection of N Tryon and Old Concord, right at the bridge.

 

[archiham04]

You know the old saying... "Gas stations follow transit"          ....?!?!?...

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, archiham04 said:

You know the old saying... "Gas stations follow transit"          ....?!?!?...

Say what you want, but every single gas station I can think of in Brooklyn is along 4th avenue, aka the N/R Line. 

[SgtCampsalot]

It's got to be the fact that N Tryon is just a damn thoroughfare.

 

But seriously, that's the worst thing that could happen to that little nook of TOD-worthy land.

[AuLukey]

Okay, call me crazy. But this could be worse. Yes, yes, this makes as much sense as the car wash that was built next to the Tyvola station; but hear me out. Of all the gas stations that call Charlotte home, QT is undeniably the most urban (I rarely stop there, so trust me when I say this is unbiased.)

 

Most QT's are basically restaurants/convenience stores that happen to connect to a gas station. There are stand-alone QT's without the gas station portion in Atlanta (think Seven Eleven in Catalyst.) So I feel like, with the proper motivation, they could build this to actually be pseudo-TOD friendly.

 

As I said though, by far not the proper choice for this location, but there is just a slight bit of silver lining.

 

[SgtCampsalot]

Call me a naive child, but it's such a premiere corner I was hoping for something like this in like the next 10-15 years... it's the only station past 36th St that could create a neighborhood environment. Now remediation would be tied to any redevelopment.

Edited May 31, 2017 by SgtCampsalot

[ah59396]

4 hours ago, AuLukey said:

Okay, call me crazy. But this could be worse. Yes, yes, this makes as much sense as the car wash that was built next to the Tyvola station; but hear me out. Of all the gas stations that call Charlotte home, QT is undeniably the most urban (I rarely stop there, so trust me when I say this is unbiased.)

 

Most QT's are basically restaurants/convenience stores that happen to connect to a gas station. There are stand-alone QT's without the gas station portion in Atlanta (think Seven Eleven in Catalyst.) So I feel like, with the proper motivation, they could build this to actually be pseudo-TOD friendly.

 

As I said though, by far not the proper choice for this location, but there is just a slight bit of silver lining.

 

I highly doubt we see a TOD friendly design.  The one they built across from Scaleybark is the anti-christ of transit development.

[KJHburg]

QT bought this site at Old Concord and N Tryon several years ago and got the rezoning then. From their perspective it is right across the street from entrance to the parking lot of the Old Concord station and will be the the to go spot for coffee and food on the way. QT is by far the finest convenience store chain in this area. Maybe in 10 years or so they will knock it down and make big money to selling to an apartment developer but this area needs alot of changes before that happens. The best stations for redevelopment opportunities as someone said are 36th St or maybe Sugar Creek southward to uptown and probably from University City station northward to UNCC. In the future this area around Old Concord and Tom Hunter will change. However I believe this shiny new QuikTrip will clean up the area in the meantime. Bring it on with their Green Papaya Pineapple Tea.   (and yes QT has an urban format without gas only in Atlanta's midtown now but that would work in Charlotte somewhere but probably not here)    

[tozmervo]

Dusky Update

[KJHburg]

Low speed testing of the LYNX BLE are ongoing. Here is an article and photo gallery from Biz Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/06/07/lynx-blue-line-extension-tests-begin-with-project.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=scroll&ed=2017-06-07&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1496878790&j=78338841

[KJHburg]

Parkwood station today. Lots of construction nearby 2 on Thompkins Mill, 2 new apartment complexes  I was hoping to see a train but no luck. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Nice photos! Here's a few I took from Parkwood station at night. 

[LKN704]

Another thing that kinda surprised me was the lack of installation of TPIS monitors at the stations, instead relying on traditional pegboard displays. I get that the system would cost more money, but this is 2017 not 2002. 

For those that don't know, TPIS monitors display real time train arrival information and can give other updated travel info (like "Elevator out of service at Tyvola station"). 

I drove along the extension this morning, and one thing that I found interesting was how hard CATS tried to seperate the tracks from the surrounding street area. Most track areas on North Tryon street are protected by fencing. This is in contrast with the vast majority of light rail systems in the USA, most of which run on the street.

Combined with the separate stations with high level platforms (as opposed to boarding from the street sidewalk), it definitely adds a "metro"-like feel to our system. 

[ajfunder]

On 6/10/2017 at 7:15 PM, LKN704 said:

 I drove along the extension this morning, and one thing that I found interesting was how hard CATS tried to seperate the tracks from the surrounding street area. Most track areas on North Tryon street are protected by fencing. This is in contrast with the vast majority of light rail systems in the USA, most of which run on the street.

Combined with the separate stations with high level platforms (as opposed to boarding from the street sidewalk), it definitely adds a "metro"-like feel to our system. 

I think CATS has learned from other cities that the average American motorist has the tendency to get hit by trains in street running scenarios, especially at first. Example, Houstons light rail which got the nickname wham bam tram. 

Even the left turn lanes on the extension have their own gates.

[KJHburg]

4 hours ago, ajfunder said:

I think CATS has learned from other cities that the average American motorist has the tendency to get hit by trains in street running scenarios, especially at first. Example, Houstons light rail which got the nickname wham bam tram. 

Even the left turn lanes on the extension have their own gates.

Yes Houston had quite a bit of problems and now their latest lines have more protections for the trains or maybe the other vehicles dont know which. 

[nmundo]

They seem to have installed the new ticket machines at all of the stations now. Here's some pics I took of them at McCullough and 9th St stations but I saw them on all of the stations I saw all the way up through campus.

[Squid7085]

I rode the new light rail line from Denver International to Downtown today. It's pretty nice, all the station platforms are verrryyy long but otherwise, seems to be designed very similar to the blue line. They were only running two trains. A funny problem though. Apparently, they have been having issues with the system that puts down the crossing gates every time the tracks cross a street. Because of that, they currently have crossing guards, as in human crossing guards, at every. single. crossing. Let's hope we don't have a disaster like that with the blue line. How about that for an 8-hour shift? Just hold up a sign when the train comes by.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Squid7085 said:

I rode the new light rail line from Denver International to Downtown today. It's pretty nice, all the station platforms are verrryyy long but otherwise, seems to be designed very similar to the blue line. They were only running two trains. A funny problem though. Apparently, they have been having issues with the system that puts down the crossing gates every time the tracks cross a street. Because of that, they currently have crossing guards, as in human crossing guards, at every. single. crossing. Let's hope we don't have a disaster like that with the blue line. How about that for an 8-hour shift? Just hold up a sign when the train comes by.

You should see the $40-65 per hour union construction guys all along the bottom of the BQE in Brooklyn along 3rd Avenue who are holding "SLOW" signs 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I'd take that job.

[Nick2]

100 grand a year for construction??? Sign me up!

I guess living in New York, that's not as absurd as it would be in NC. But still...

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Nick2 said:

100 grand a year for construction??? Sign me up!

I guess living in New York, that's not as absurd as it would be in NC. But still...

no, its definitely absurd. Crazy benefits, crazy overtime pay, crazy days off. 

[Nick2]

I suppose that's why the second avenue expansion is costing approximately 300,000 per FOOT to build.