I think the chances of getting a railroad to give up its rights to existing line, even if lightly used at the moment, are slim to none
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Idon’t disagree. It’s a shame these legacy railroads hold so much power over these lines. Such a hinderance to progress for things like this, and things like commuter rail.
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Take a look at our city’s financial standing… it is very to very strong when compared to peers.
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Aside from the state-owned NCRR, RRs are private entities that have property rights like every other private property owner. NCDOT is quite protective of RR corridors, even buying them outright when necessary to preserve them. The area between Fuquay-Varina and Fayetteville is prime industrial land. Also, Fuquay-Varina and south Wake politicians want to see this rail line preserved as a potential commuter line and an option for passenger train service between Raleigh and Fayetteville.
For a mid to high eight-figures expenditure the line through the middle of Dix could be replaced by a new connector across 401 near Rush St, but developed property would have to be acquired with all the controversy that comes with it.
The line serves a large, new transload facility in Harnett County as well as the Goodyear tire plant near Fayetteville that employed about 2900 people as of 2023. It’s not going anywhere.
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I’m late to the Gipson Play Plaza discussion, but I’ve now taken my kids there twice, and I’m blown away by awesome this park is. What I love most is how different it is from any other park nearby, and how it lets kids play and explore in environments that aren’t engineered to be as sanitized as possible. My kids love the water play area, and they have to be careful playing on rocks and around water, but they love all the things there are to manipulate and engage with. (I love that the designers integrated a small-scale model of Yates Mill into the water area.) The climbing towers and bridges are fantastic, too. My son was way up in the air, climbing on the ropes and walking across bridges by himself. And we capped off one of the trips by heading around the corner to buy some fruit at the Farmer’s Market. This park is 
. It’s instantly one of our favorite places in Raleigh.
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The business case for converting the Norfolk Southern line into a greenway is stronger than ever. Maybe once Union Pacific finishes the merger with NS that they just announced, they can be persuaded to do what NS wouldn’t and sell off the line so it can finally converted from rails to trails.
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This is what I loved about it when I first visited - it reminded me so much of the wooden playground I played on as a kid in the 90s/early 00s before it got torn down and replaced with a SAFE and SANITITZED plastic/metal playground. I had this realization that Raleigh’s kids of today and onward may actually get their knees scraped and/or a few splinters just like when I was baby. It builds character!!!
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Oh you sweet summer child. Those were the new fancy ones. Oldschool kids remember these death traps fondly:
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These were the peak of my childhood playground days
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I haven’t been to Gipson but two of my kids went there with a friend’s family. They enjoyed it but were a bit underwhelmed. They prefer Pullen, Laurel Hills, and Kids Together/Dorrell. It was an extremely hot day about a month ago when they went and it sounds like there’s not much shade there so perhaps that affected their perspective as well.
As for the railroad - just shutting down the railroad and making it a trail (end of story) isn’t really the idea of the Artery; not as I see it anyway. If NS/UP chooses to divest this line fully (RFCC is leasing it from NS right now) I would hope a direct rail route from Raleigh to Fuquay-Varina that doesn’t involve a detour to Fayetteville or Sanford could be maintained. The NCRR and the old NS run pretty close to each other for about 4 miles south of downtown and I’m hopeful a bypass route can be found. Alternatively, a rail-with-trail could be a good option. The right-of-way is about 75 or 80 feet wide. Plenty of space to build a trail between the tracks and the Boylan Heights neighborhood.
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You haven’t lived until you’ve been flung off of a merry-go-round a time or two!! 
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If you’re flexing that you’re old ….. I’ll let you have that one 
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If you need a laugh…
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Douglas Johnston needs an enema.
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I read this piece earlier this morning and was just like what?? I am glad you shared it to the group.
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What load of 
!
Who is this guy? I’ surprised N&O would publish this nonsense. Or maybe not. I’m sure this type of crap drives clicks on their site. pathetic.
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Newspapers love controversies. Besides, this type of pushback isn’t new. Refer to the Jaume Plensa - Fayetteville Street affair and the Light + Time Tower on Capital Blvd that helped get Tom Fetzer elected Mayor.
The author is in his second term on the PRGAB. It meets on 3rd Thursdays in the evening and the meetings are livestreamed.
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Already down the rabbit hole on reddit….the comments are in kind to most of the thinking here.
These things will bring traffic through to explore and that will likely benefit the local tax coffers, thus benefit the park in time.
I’m mostly hoping one of the sculptures is a squirrel w/ a prized acorn. Maybe another is a wolf.
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I like those two suggestions! 
Exactly. Dix Park needs anything and everything it can to draw visitors right now until the full plan is realized.
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