From how I understand the NEPA, it definitely seems easier to comply with for private rail companies (or powerful public companies with their own rights-of-way like Boston’s MBTA) that don’t have to constantly ask for federal aid.
I guess the level of legal pain-in-the-ass would, at the end of the day, depend on who’s buying which pieces of land. If NS insists on a land-swap deal (with the city/county/state/GoTriangle/Dix Park/whoever to foot the bill to eminent-domain their way to that new NS right-of-way etc.), then a federal grant would probably be in play and make everything super gross. But if NS does the heavy lifting and (insert entity here) reimburses them in place of getting the Dix Park alignment, then maybe we have a fighting chance, financially.
So, while we all had our eyes set on Penmarc, Malik/Kane snuck this one in. This is undeveloped land which has lain fallow for almost 60 years. Nobody cared about it at all. And, yet they went ahead and bought it. It’s not anywhere in the core part of the Downtown South plan, and it has no direct connection to anything we’ve been shown in all of their pretty renderings.
Since they now own the property outright, they can now wait while the processes play themselves out having locked in at a (probably) good price. And, who’s to say that they aren’t already assembling some more pieces in the puzzle before anybody even realizes what in the hell just happened.
To my eyes, somebody knew the potential of this property. It so reminds me of what Disney pulled off in Orlando, or the Pennsylvania Railroad pulled off in Manhattan, or even the Dukes when they bought up all of that worthless land west of Durham whilst everybody else kept their focus on East Campus. This is how Titans play real estate.
So, what do you guys do with your spare time on Sundays?
Seriously though, fascinating discussion that I barely understand but just enough to know you guys know your $h!+. And I love that some action is coming out of the collaboration. I’m excited to see if you get any traction. Please keep us looped in!
So, I’m also left to wonder about what NS’ intentions would be with this whole exercise. I could see them hop on and let somebody else do the heavy lifting, grant writing, etc while playing nice for awhile. Then, when it suited them, dump the VF Line to somebody else while pocketing the cash they received for the NS Line through Dix Park.
But, if they did pull off a stunt like that, we would still be left with a key piece of infrastructure which could be very useful for the possibility of commuter rail service from VAR-RGH. And, it sets the stage for a possible South Raleigh/Malik Stadium station at the Cargill site on the GAR-DUR route. This would really ramp up what could be done in Downtown South.
I have a neighbor who is a semi-retired (but current) PE who used to work for NCDOT. I believe he worked in the highway division but he may be able to offer some suggestions.
I’m self-taught with a lot of nearby railroad resources to sound pretty convincing. And, my contact at Jones Street thinks that our solution has merit. So, keep plugging on.
Honestly, yeah. More granular pics beyond what Google Maps has (bonus points if you can get pics right after a huge rainstorm, since it’ll give us a good idea of how an actual flood could impact this area), any head’s up about strange moves by Kane, councilmembers etc., links to comments by any stakeholders (including NIMBY movements that could get directed at our proposal),… if you have literally anything that could change or deepen our understanding of where we “are” now and/or possible challenges along the way, that would be awesome
If anything, the non-technical stuff is probably where all the good and/or dangerous stuff is hiding.
@OakCityDylan I’m envisioning a flyover down the length of the NS rail corridor through Dix Park and possibly down to Carolina Pines. (Knowing that full run is probably impossible given battery requirements and the limitations of how far the drone can be from the controller.)
Having that kind of presentation on screen can make a big impact for the audience.
I’d think about that again, if that’s a major why. A PHD doesn’t speed up the process compared to a Masters. It only allows you to get out of the FE exam. But you should have taken the FE as a senior in undergrad. One week of Non-intense studying should be enough.
If you have any specific questions about PHD programs and their relation to jobs, private message me, as I started a PhD program, but left it based on what I wanted out of a career. If you want your salary to match your education, there aren’t a lot of opportunities in the private sector outside of becoming a professor. But of course, this depends on the subset of civil engineering you are in.
Thanks for the tip (and also for your offer, @Will) …though it doesn’t exactly fit my situation; I’m actually not in civil engineering at all. I’m doing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, and I was advised against doing an FE/PE in undergrad since it doesn’t cover things like FDA medical devices classifications or HIPAA. Plus if you want a high-level design/management-based industry jobs in our field, you’re typically expected to have an MS/MEng/PhD instead, rather than a PE.
I only mentioned it as a way to be a meaningful part of civic/political discussions for topics like what we’re talking about here. It’s not required (though I guess it would be nice?) for my career; it’s an extreme response as an engaged citizen to an unreasonable expectation, if the city/council actually refuses to care about anyone who doesn’t sign their name “correctly”. I have no intentions of ever signing off a plan sheet for new bridges or do anything else to misrepresent my expertise, but I just casually thought about going down that route because it seems that I’m already halfway there.
…though it doesn’t exactly fit my situation; I’m actually not in civil engineering at all. I’m doing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, and I was advised against doing an FE/PE in undergrad since it doesn’t cover things like FDA medical devices classifications or HIPAA. Plus if you want a high-level design/management-based industry jobs in our field, you’re typically expected to have an MS/MEng/PhD instead, rather than a PE.