If you’ve attended any public meeting regarding Raleigh’s light rail, you may have noticed a gap between engineers’ ideas and those of developers who seek to maximize quality infill of vacant urban lots with vibrant, appealing options for downtown residents. For instance, the need for flyovers seems to be full of engineer assumptions about travel speeds, types of train cars, length of cars, etc… I understand that it’s cheaper, but I think it’s important to say that Raleigh doesn’t need cheap transit. We need effective transit that will attract riders.
I join urban planners in saying that we do that by putting light rail on the ground, where it encourages economic development and is approachable, walkable, and accessible. I’m picturing an attractive, elevated plaza on what is now the undeveloped area south of the Glenwood/Morgan intersection and north of the Boylan Wye. This would allow light rail to connect to Union Station at a street level – see these images, making the Union Station concourse the center of block redevelopment.
In contrast, the engineering-based alternative proposes building giant bridges across the entire west half of downtown discouraging economic development, local choice (walk-up / bike-up) ridership and ultimately creating an eyesore to residents, because it’s cheap. No thanks.
Recent articles provide some background:
Rail route is blurry through downtown Raleigh
A (maybe) light-rail bridge over Boylan Avenue
Wanted: your input on Raleigh train routes and station locations
I agree with those who believe the light rail should head north from Union Station on Wilmington and Salisbury streets. This route is nearest our state government complex where we employ more than 10,000 workers who could use this option to commute to work.
Lastly, it’s frustrating that TTA did not provide a photo illustration of the Morgan Street connection. I wonder why? If all options are equal, all are on the table and TTA is deferring to Raleigh for the final decision making, why not make that option as visible of the other two? It doesn’t add up.
I’m looking forward to attending the workshop on March 30th at the McKimmon Center so I can learn more. Please join me in what I hope to be a great turnout so we can make our voices heard – for the overall project and its promise for Raleigh’s redevelopment. Flyovers aren’t going to do it!
See you there!
Triangle Transit has now posted the downtown rail alignments on their website. A downtown alignment not shown but supported by members of the Mayor’s Passenger Rail Task Force is a “hybrid” of D6, that combines the benefits of D5 & D6.
I took a look at West Morgan Street yesterday — and the slope problem. I'm not a licensed engineer (DOT: Note, I'm not practicing traffic engineering without a license), but it seemed to me the slope problem could be overcome pretty easily if the W. Morgan-streetcar solution was pursued.
See you at McKimmon on 3/30.
I'm confident that engineers can find a solution for the Morgan Strret bridge slope. Residents need to again (i.e. high speed rail) demand that transit engineers spend time looking at alternatives which focus on land use issues, and not just how to get a train from point A to point B. Can't we get some urban planners to work with these people before the public weighs in?
I agree with the thoughts here. The flyovers are not the smart way to go and I see it as poor planning for an urban area. As Downtown Raleigh fills up, space will be more and more limited. The roads will be congested with cars. The solution? Make the roads more efficient with transit.
Transit allows more people to go through. I see the flyovers as a way of not interfering with the car traffic and instead hurting development opportunities and the pedestrian sidewalk experience. It would be similar to widening a road and continuing the sprawl pattern that is widespread in this country.
Unacceptable. I'll be there too on the 30th.
Triangle Transit has now posted the light rail alignments on their website at http://www.ourtransitfuture.com. A downtown alignment not shown but supported by members of the Mayor's Passenger Rail Task Force is a "hybrid" of D6, running down Morgan Street and connecting with Wilmington and Salisbury. Unlike the other proposed alignments, only the Morgan Street alignment avoids the Boylan Avenue flyover.
Cross posting from dtraleigh.com, which linked to this article:
For the last several weeks here at Rutgers I have been modeling my vision for Union Station. I kind of wish a lot of this had come out before I started!
Maybe I will post some images of what I did here when I am finished. Some folks might find it interesting. It is based on a combination of reality from the Union Station study released last year and pie in the sky from my own imagination.
All of these elevated scenarios for the light rail line worry me greatly. I would prefer street level whenever possible. In my own design it runs down W. Morgan St., which I made one way again and cut down to one lane. Whether that is even remotely realistic I don’t know.
My site plan: http://jonathanhawkins.net/temp/union2.jpg
Rendering of where the W. Morgan St. bridge over the train tracks currently is: http://jonathanhawkins.net/temp/union18.jpg
I am encouraged to see that the DLA and others see things the same way I did.
I agree with the comments above wholeheartedly and will see you on the 30th. Did any of the engineers ask what the purpose of light rail was as they engaged in the process? It's to move people, not trains. I would be comfortable with the trains not going downtown if there was a beefed up (more frequent) R-line. As a resident of the area I know that many state workers already park over in the West/Harrington area and walk the two blocks to the government complex.