For a new Cary station, my preference is to realign the CSX tracks to the north side of the existing station (in the parking lot between the station and the NCRR)
and do a split grade separation where the tracks are raised by 10ft and the roads are depressed by the same 10ft. While the tracks are up, go ahead and punch Walker through as well and build a pedestrian access from the station to the platform. No need to rebuild the station building. Build the platforms along the tangent section furthest east, probably extending west from Academy. Use the old (abandoned) CSX right of way segment between Harrison and Academy for buses, and turn the rest of it west towards Old Apex into an extension of Cedar Street or a new rail trail or something.
Did a doodle of a possible CSX realignment that is… not without its impacts… but then, NCDOT doesn’t bat an eyelash at property impacts like this for highway projects. The most concerning is the park impact. The actual impact would be minuscule and easily possible to mitigate, but those sort of things tend to get alternatives “screened out” as non-starters in the first round, before their benefits are even estimated.
Any alternative that… impacts… the strip club just across Harrison from the train station would be a good thing in my book. Oops! Need part of their parking lot. That’ll be a … full acquisition!
The latest I can find is from the Cary Mayor’s Blog from April 2019:. The “They” referenced is NCDOT and NC Rail reps
The Harrison Avenue bridge project is already programmed. Despite my urging for the project to be removed from the STIP and my explaining there is no chance that Cary Council will change their mind they want to keep it in year 10. They seem to think we might change our minds once commuter rail starts and traffic is blocked more frequently. I explained that we would be more likely to move the rail station or build one of the other bridges over the rail tracks than build that bridge. Anyway, it will be in year 10 and stay in year 10 indefinitely.
Looked over the recent completion of the Hopson Road grade separation, track realignment, and passing siding done in Durham County as part of the Piedmont Improvement project. Plans for an extra track were programmed into that. The current grade separation(s) going on in Morrisville with a new bridge over Morrisville Parkway have a provision for an extra track as well.
Reached out to the project engineer in charge of the Hillsborough/Beltline interchange and the Blue Ridge grade separation projects, and there is room set aside for an additional CSX and NS/NCRR track within the scope of the planned work. He thanked me for the update I linked to him from the GoTriangle presentation for the commuter rail project.
Have not heard back from the project engineer in charge of the grade separation project at Maynard Road in Cary. Nor, have I heard back from the point person for Cary’s relocation of CYN. But, I forwarded the link to GoTriangle’s presentation.
Well, on 12/23/19 Harrison and two other crossing projects just got moved from ‘Suspended’ to ‘TBD’
P-5708 Harrison Ave. Grade Separation. TBD - Not Let in Years 1- 5
P-5738 NCR/NS H LINE WAKE COUNTY AT SR 2713 (VANDORA SPRINGS) TBD - Not Let in Years 1- 5
P-5739 CSX S LINE WAKE COUNTY AT SR 1415 (WEST MAYNARD ROAD) IN CAR TBD - Not Let in Years 1 - 5
Reading this story, it seems Durham’s elected officials are very very skeptical about the project. Wake County might want to start thinking about that Wake Forest to Apex option, because Durham sounds like they’re not going to play ball. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article238983253.html
Going for light rail from Durham to Chapel Hill as a first capital project was a huge miscalculation. Never made sense. I guess Durham was impatient and couldn’t wait five years for Wake to come on board.
“We need, before we expend more capital monies, to make sure that all the key stakeholders are on board,” said Reckhow, who also serves on the GoTriangle Board of Trustees. “We’ve got to learn from what happened with light rail and not presume anything.”
It didn’t read to me like they don’t want to participate or that they’re against the idea at all, just that they don’t want to have a second failed attempt at rail on their résumés.
I can appreciate Schewel’s apprehension since GoTriangle sold them a bill of goods, not once, but twice.
I imagine that having Bill Bell being the Chairman of the Board of NCRR will possibly help. And, that there’s going to be use of heavyweight equipment, will also be a plus.
But, this is fundamentally a different system, altogether. If GoTriangle can’t sell this, then maybe NS should start their own passenger service.
One other key thing to note: unlike Durham’s light rail, Jeff Mann isn’t heading GoTriangle anymore.
(David King, his predecessor, seemed to have built up some good momentum that Mann couldn’t keep up with…) It’ll definitely be up to GoTriangle’s networking and project management skills, this time around. I really hope they prioritize the right things and negotiate properly…
David King was the head of NCDOT rail division before he was at GoTriangle, IIRC.
As for the commuter rail… the project might be better off if it were managed by NCDOT rail, or even NCRR itself, or some cooperative effort between the two - with GoTriangle being a stakeholder in the process. NCDOT has plenty of experience running passenger trains, managing a capital program, and (successfully) applying for federal competitive grants. NCDOT had a tough moment with funding recision pending for the ARRA projects back in about 2011. Unlike GoTriangle which is 0 for 2, they actually came through in the eleventh hour with just days to go before the deadline.
Handing the project over to somebody else has precedent: actually is similar with how GoTriangle has handed over the BRT projects to GoRaleigh.
GoTriangle as an agency seems to be OK at service planning, intra-regional coordination, and actual transit operations - but as an implementer of a big capital program - they just don’t have a good track record.
Duke squawked about TTA’s Regional equipment coming as an elevated structure down Erwin, blocking the view of the hospital with a big station box smacked in the middle of the intersection.
Trent/Elba were out of the question because there would have been no way to extend it to Chapel Hill. And, Hickstown/Crest was off the table because of how the neighborhood was impacted by the Durham Freeway.
‘Vibrations’ came as a last minute excuse from the DOLRT debacle.
I’m happy that they aren’t even in the conversation with this go around. If they want a station, extend the old PRT tunnel to the tracks. Vibration worries solved.
It looks like Durham-Garner 8-2-8-2 is going to be the way forward, and a great bargain at that price, especially when you figure in federal funding.
Hopefully at some point soon after they can expand to 8-4-8-4. Candidly, the demand for mid-day service isn’t there yet, but it’s also a chicken-and-egg thing.
My biggest regret, honestly, is that there aren’t more trains running at peak hours. Unless you define “peak hours” extremely narrowly, you’re looking at more than 15-minute headways, which is not great. I realize the ridership projections are what they are, but again: chickens, eggs.
How long have we been saying on this forum that they just need to double-track the H line the whole way?
Also, what do people think about the proposed 16 stops, both in terms of selection and also speed vs. coverage trade off?
I have said for years “If I can get from work to home and back without a car, I’ll gladly hand over my keys” HOWEVER, when Iooked into taking the BUS (b/c rail is nonexistent) from my previous house to my previous job, it would have taken nearly 2 hours and involved over a mile walk each way. My 14 mile drive took about 30 minutes, most of that going up and down Capital Boulevard. Ironically, I lived within a half mile of the rail line b/w WF and DRT which was the TTA LTR plan from the late 90s. I’ve changed jobs and moved halfway across town since then, so the outlook for transit to work during the remaining 25 years of professional work is unlikely at this point.
