Another aspect to this is that a viaduct to grade-separate the existing railroad could potentially (though not necessarily) qualify for a FRA Categorical Exclusion, meaning no EIS is needed - whereas adding a FTA light rail project into the mix would definitely require a full EIS.
Assuming a grade separation is needed at Blackwell (the 2014 Traffic Separation Study said it is needed) there are likely no feasible options that don’t significantly impact the Old Bull building.
Raising or lowering Blackwell, and raising the railroad, all likely have similar impacts.
Lowering the railroad in a trench is infeasible because of how it impacts the existing grade separations at Roxboro and Chapel Hill streets.
Putting the railroad in a deep tunnel is just a ridiculous multi-billion dollar idea that will never, ever happen.
The original design (before VE) had individual canopies alluding to dogwood flowers and the circular pattern on historical fitzgerald bricks found throughout Durham. Or, perhaps the more obvious resemblance: a steering wheel?
Connecting multiple local routes directly to the train station. It also kind of operated under the assumption that commuter rail was going to become the spine of our regional network, but that’s not really happening anymore (at least not any time soon).
I feel like INDY Week is kinda behind on this news though; I thought Greyhound had been off the table for some time.
Yeah this is true. During the design process there was nearly no mention of accommodating Greyhound coaches except to make sure that a 45’ coach could circulate around the bus loop, not even stop in one of the bays. The Capital Boulevard Greyhound station currently has 8 berths and GoTriangle is trying to serve 10 routes out of RUS Bus. The station would have been hard pressed to fit all of the Greyhound routes and GoTriangle routes with the configuration that was chosen.
Yea, the Indy knows that too. This isn’t new information, and why would Greyhound want to fight for open space with GoTriangle for only 6 open bays? They wouldn’t have room. The Indy couldn’t help themselves but make this into a class divide.
"A nexus of poor people, taxi drivers and bus travelers … doesn’t quite fit into Raleigh’s new creative class vision for itself,”
“If Union Station is the front door to the city, this is the back door, where people who can’t afford to fly, train, or drive into Raleigh arrive by bus and are greeted by an inhospitable landscape of strip malls, concrete, and highway.”
And this is why I have long since given up my Indy subscription. They turn everything into some perceived injustice against the poor and/or minorities. It’s basically just liberal guilt clickbait.
Their reporting is often barebones and lacking detail but is at least usually news or further details. Sometimes it’s scare-mongering about downtowns, but I feel like the people on here can easily identify and ignore that. Indy just rubs me the wrong way now because it gets so emotional that it loses all objectivity and becomes distracting from any news I can glean from the articles. Or in this case they’re basically just making up an issue.
Pretty sure it will be the main hub for GoTriangle regional express routes too. The CRX is wildly underutilized considering the sizable population making that commute. A new bus station and planned alignment change will make it a much more attractive option.
This is so stupid lmao - Greyhound initially had plans to build a depot downtown (off Glenwood South) and up till recently still owned the land AFAIK, however, they pivoted and they’ve explicitly stated they had no plans nor intentions to move their depot downtown after building it off Bumf**k Capital Blvd. This isn’t a City of Raleigh decision whatsoever, it’s completely the decisions of Greyhound as a company. Does INDYweek articles still have comments? I’d be inclined to get on there and call them out on their bullsh*t.
Yea I don’t remember it ever being in the plans for Greyhound or any inter-city bus system at RUS Bus. Would be nice though. Since there’s no room, what about capping the rails at the Boylan Ave & Morgan St levels and having some combination of park space, development and transit facilities. The future high-speed rail station would be covered under here too.
Can you imagine the howls if we’ve got intercity buses using Boylan regularly??? Too rich.
A more serious problem with this inventive proposal is how it would effect our much loved idea of an Artery, running above the tracks.
They are painfully obviously located in Durham and thus have a Durham-slant. Durham can do no wrong, Raleigh can do no right. It’s a whiney neo-liberal rag at this point. Best to ignore it entirely.
