Nearly all lines within downtown would be over streets and sidewalks. Stations would just be up a flight of stairs / escalator / elevator.
I guess it would mainly cater to visitors to get to Dix but I would guess a fair amount of locals could use it to quickly jump around downtown - similar to the R-Line?
Dix Station could also be a transfer hub and have another out and back line to Centennial and NCSU (~15 minute one-way travel time).
Monorails like Wuppertal are eye bleedingly expensive, and disruptive to build.
Gondolas are expensive too but are also slow, especially for multi-mile journeys like that, and have middling capacity.
So: as a circulator for the greater downtown area? As a functional transit system for all of Southwest Raleigh? No way.
As a novelty attraction with a secondary side effect of providing marginally useful transportation, it might have legs. And that would mean keeping it simple and cheap: two endpoints, one at Dix and the other downtown, as few bends in the route as possible, and running over public property and rights-of-way as much as possible.
That’s really what I was getting at. As a non-engineer I sometimes just assume that anything has to be cheaper than light rail. Guess not. This country is probably just irretrievably broken, we have no political will left to build things other than roads.
Florida just opened the Brightline and it’s already planning expansion. Texas’ rail plans have a lot of momentum. Even red states are building rail, don’t despair.
Honestly, the most disastrous mismanagement is California’s HSR project that’s now just going between Bakersfield and Merced, in a deep blue state.
And this is the poster child for everyone opposed to government sponsored hsr. We need to change the focus from Califorinia’s colossal and epic failure to Birghtline’s success in Florida, and hope they follow that up with a quick build and popular service between eastern LA county and Las Vegas. The Texas line between Dallas and Houston seems a no brainer, and I hope that gets going soon.
A couple people have said Dix Park needs to be at one end of a gondola system for visitors. I am all about an attraction for downtown Raleigh, but I just don’t “get” the big deal about sending visitors to Dix Park as a huge attraction. Sure it’s a nice big open space with a pretty view of downtown Raleigh, a dog park, and a playground, but why exactly are out of towners going to Dix and for how long will they stay there? I could easily spend 20 minutes there and think “cool” and be ready to go. Some of the outdoor art, specifically the giant rusted-drain-pipe looking installation is kind of cringe.
Ski resorts can install a gondola system for not a ton of money over varying terrain, but I am scratching my head on millions of dollars on what others have pointed out would be a slow and inefficient way to transport people around Raleigh, and randomly why would they go to Dix Park.
I’m all about the Dix development, but this just seems a random thing for minimal payoff. I honestly view Dix as more of something locals would do and enjoy, and not on the top 20 things for an out of towner to do.
I would have to agree with this wait and see approach. I mean it’s helpful that the incoming mayor has connections to Dix Park as part of her background, but a gondola to Dix Park can easily be added way in the future if Dix really becomes a “must see” attraction for visitors that wouldn’t just drive there like most of us would. Gondola supports are simple to install. I’m a bit skeptical of doing something now for something that may never be much more than a nice place to spend a half hour, but that would never merit putting in permanent infrastructure like a gondola. Same goes for rail. Once the tracks are in, THAT’S where the railcars will go. Something like buses can easily be rerouted based on changing needs over the decades, and be much more flexible. Sure, less sexy than a gondola, but way more practical. I just don’t see Dix Park as something that important to visitors.
Have you ever heard of Central Park in NYC? I know we are no New York City at the moment. But with enough money, this honestly could be a bigger draw than some of you are envisioning. Think 10, 20 years into the future. Just trying to imagine this city into another time zone.
