Of course, you’re right but it would seem that 95 is what it is at this point…?
Same with the perceptions of transportation funding…
This forum is full of a bunch of wonks many of whom care a lot about transportation, transit, housing, equity, social justice… all manner of things.
There is something to be said for doing the best we can right now within the framework of the existing system, but the moment we say “oh well it is what it is” - that is, we go with the flow and stop caring, stop recognizing the problems, and stop trying to change things, is the moment we give up on ever having a country that functions as well as it could.
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The “problem” with I95 is that its mission isn’t necessarily prioritized to serve North Carolina. Drivers cross through the state on it, oftentimes without ever getting out of their cars, save for peeing and filling up their tanks. I40 and I85 are economic engines for the state in a way that I95 will never be. I87 has the potential to be impactful to eastern North Carolina in the way that 40 and 85 are to the parts of the state that they serve.
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Respect your POV but with regards to 95, I lean into the theory John is offering. Always have.
On transit and the larger machinations - absolutely. My point was about perception NOT about leaning into what it could / should be…
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Update on GoTriangle’s Regional Transit Center relocation project…
According to their upcoming Planning & Legislative Committee agenda (page 21), staff is recommending Park Point, the old Nortel site.
Click here for how they landed on this option.
Staff recommend the adoption of the study and a relocation strategy for the Regional Transit Center, inclusive of a preferred location, conceptual program, and implementation approach, consisting of the following:
- Preferred location: “Park Point,” located approximately at the northwest quadrant of NC-54 and the NCRR railroad tracks. This location is intended to facilitate convenient first- and last-mile transit connections to the planned Greater Triangle Commuter Rail project.
- Conceptual Program: Transit center with covered platform for fixed-route buses, separate covered platform for para-transit and microtransit, enhanced passenger amenities, park-and-ride spaces, and a footprint for a future development adjacent to the site which could accommodate GoTriangle administrative space, among other uses.
- Implementation approach: Initiate design and implementation activities for the transit center. Fund design and land acquisition in FY22 county transit plan annual workplans. Continue to evaluate the relocation of GoTriangle administrative offices to the new Regional Transit Center in coordination with project design as well as the Regional Fleet and Facilities study.
The GoTriangle Strategic Plan and the county transit plans for Wake, Durham, and Orange counties identify the need for the relocation of the Regional Transit Center to improve route efficiency, connect to planned capital investments, and improve passenger amenities. The Regional Transit Center serves as a hub and park-and-ride for ten bus routes that directly serve Raleigh, Durham, Research Triangle Park, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and RDU Airport. Nearly 1,000 passengers board a bus at the Regional Transit Center each weekday. At its October 23, 2019 meeting, the GoTriangle Board of Trustees authorized consulting services to complete a feasibility study to identify and evaluate potential sites and produce conceptual site plans for a relocated facility. The Planning and Legislative Committee received an update on the study progress and provided direction to staff at its October 28, 2020 meeting.
Over the past year, the consultant and GoTriangle staff have completed an existing conditions assessment, identified site operational and location criteria, conducted public and stakeholder engagement, performed a site search, and evaluated six final candidate sites. Two sites, “HUB RTP”, located at the northwest corner of Davis Drive and NC 54, and “Park Point”, located at the northwest corner of the existing railroad tracks and NC 54 scored the highest among final candidates. The sites were scored based on improved access to the freeway network, proximity to planned bus rapid transit and commuter rail, access to employment, ease of site acquisition and construction, and the potential for transit-oriented development as well as access to existing retail and services.
At its October 28, 2020 meeting, The Planning and Legislative Committee expressed a strong preference for a site that provides a direct connection to the planned commuter rail station, expressed support for integrating the transit center within a transit-supportive development, and requested that staff further evaluate the “Triangle Metro Center” site at the southwest quadrant of NC-54 and the NCRR tracks. “Triangle Metro Center” was a planned station location from the legacy regional rail project in the early 2000s. Following the meeting, staff undertook further evaluation of the three final sites, including coordination with the respective owners of each site, to assess the following: viability of public-private partnership, potential timing, real-estate needs, site access, potential risks, and cost. The results of the further evaluation confirmed that the “Park Point” site remains the highest scoring site based on the technical criteria and that relocation to the site would be viable. The site presents an opportunity for public-private partnership that could enable the Regional Transit Center to leverage planned investments in commuter rail and bus rapid transit and support transit-oriented development adjacent to the transit center, increasing the project’s competiveness for federal grant funding.
TL;DR: looks like they concluded that placing the station next to future commuter rail was the best option. Hard agree.
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Common sense prevails.
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I continue to wonder if there is a measurable benefit for each of the cities along the Future 1-87 route. If so, which cities? And how much?
The portion of the route between Raleigh and I-95N is definitely a benefit for Raleigh, Rocky Mount, and all the cities in between. Similarly I image the portion closest to the Hampton Roads area will improve connectivity and support growth there. But what about
Speaking generally, the connection between Raleigh and Norfolk makes a lot of sense. The details always make me questions whether this is a smart investment.
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I recall the meeting where they presented the options. Some people were apoplectic at the idea the bus transfer center wouldn’t be immediately connected to commuter rail. Common sense won out.
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Don’t forget that Norfolk is an enormous port for imports/exports. That’s going to matter to Raleigh a lot more than shaving 30 minutes off my trips to Virginia Beach.
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I think it’s going to be good for Elizabeth City in particular, which has no interstate-grade road access. It’s hard to market your local industrial park when there’s no controlled-access highway in the area, so Chowan, Gates, Bertie, Martin counties, these places are looking forward to this designation and upgrade. But an interstate is hardly a guarantor of anything whatsoever, as Warren County demonstrates; its presence will certainly be a plus for these areas to attract business development, but it’s one of many plusses the areas really need to turn their fortunes around. In some small way it should help tourism in Edenton and possibly even help Elizabeth City State attract students, since it will be more accessible. These impacts are small, and it will take additional work to make the new highway mean anything to the small towns it goes by–there are dozen examples of places that get nothing at all out of their interstate access for every one that uses it to drive investment–but the route at least COULD be beneficial.
I think Hampton Roads stands to benefit more than Raleigh as they have no highway access to the south.
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Park Point recommendation for the new Regional Transit Center was unanimously approved during the GoTriangle P&L Committee meeting today, and it will be brought to the GoTriangle board next month. Conceptual rendering is below.
Presenter suggested that they would seek to work with NCDOT to signalize the bus-only entrance and potentially include bus prioritization at that intersection. He also mentioned the possibility of additional stops directly on NC-54 (I’m guessing that would be for the Cary-to-RTP BRT segment). Sig Hutchinson asked about connecting the proposed Triangle Bikeway to this location, and it sounds like that is likely. One committee member asked what the distance between the proposed bus platform and the potential rail station is, and the answer was around 350ft; however, there’s a possibility that the bus platform will be moved closer, should RTP and the City of Durham approve. They also made it clear that rideshare pickup would be included in this build (I’m guessing that’s the L-section on the right end).
Lastly, they noted that the transit center portion would be the first phase of this build-out, but it would leave space for a GoTriangle admin office building to be added later on (circled below). Several committee and GoTriangle members expressed that moving all GoTriangle operations to this site would be ideal, but it’s just an idea for now.
Edit: sorry for the grainy pictures; WebEx isn’t the best for this stuff.
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Thank God this just might become part of a true multimodal network with commuter rail and bikeway.
Any update on commuter rail DTRComm?
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None that’s major enough to write where I’m “supposed” to. Basically, they finished going through the most recent round of public comments (from October-November, I think?), and are still negotiating risk management things with NCRR.
Click here for receipts.
There’s a minor update on the latest GoTriangle board meeting packet:
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Just wondering but could this be a potential for public-private mix-use? The more people that live next to transportation the more people will use it. Private developer could pay for site improvements and a parking deck use agreement.
Yes it is, and that’s written on the slide screenshot @colbyjd3 posted. Having that option was a part of their selection criteria that started this discussion, too.
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Glad to see they settled on Park Point.
There seems to be an interesting tradeoff at play here, between the transit center’s proximity to a future BRT platform on NC54, and its proximity to the commuter rail platform. I am not sure which one is more important to prioritize.
On the one hand, with signal priority, they could just have the NC54 BRT line pull into the transit center, and then put it as close as possible to the train platform.
On the other hand, with the kind of pitiful frequency planned for the commuter rail, making the BRT (which will probably run more often) as efficient as possible will be important.
The best spot for both, right at the NC54/NCRR corner, is occupied by an electrical substation - which can be extremely expensive to move, and so should be treated as a fixed obstacle.
I still wish this were a bit more accessible from I-40, though. It’s not awful but it could be better.
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I think, if I were designing this, I’d kind of angle the bus platform in a bit to get it closer to the rail platform, then maybe put a BRT platform on the outer edge of the busway, as close to the rail platform as I could get it. This, of course, assumes signal priority at the NC-54 entrance. Hope you like my sweet drawing skills.
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I was checking for updates on the FAST network study and noticed this, which I don’t recall talking about here yet:
The plan calls for direct freeway access ramps for buses in the vicinity of this planned bus transfer station. I would hope that, if they do go to the trouble of adding bus ramps here, that they can somehow have an expedited path to the platform at this planned transit center.
Other direct bus ramps are planned in South Durham (where?), RDU, and on Wilmington Street in Raleigh.
These are all called out for implementation in years 0-5 of this FAST program.
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I think we posted maps and pictures of it, but never talked about that in detail. Most people here were concerned about RTP and the system at large, after all 
I’m really hoping for faster, more regular CRX/DRX-like bus service if/when FAST buses happen, but I’ll believe it’ll happen when transit agencies start making this happen for real.
As for the Direct Access stop in southern Durham, that’s around Southpoint -specifically, near the current pedestrian bridge. Obviously this is just an aspirational plan, though, and it’ll take an additional study and NCDoT’s blessings before anything like this can be planned.
Another interesting catch hidden in backup slides: a PRELIMINARY AND UNSTUDIED idea on how to lay out bus-only lanes for northbound buses in DTR. Green lines are probably existing bus routes, and red ones are probably what they propose -though there is no context for what these lines exactly mean.
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The impression I got from one of the GoTriangle meetings I watched is that they’re kind of just letting RTA study this for their own amusement and not actually planning to do anything with the results. Felt similar to when a kid scribbles on a page and their parents put it up on the fridge. Might be misreading that, but I was definitely getting some “headpat” vibes.
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