Yeah, this is really dated. I don’t think these were the finalists being considered.
Is that their Seaboard development? Sounds more like Raleigh Crossing?
@mike thanks for the correction; that was for Seaboard Station project. I’ve removed it from this thread. Thanks!
Not sure if this is the right place, but Virginia just announced a big $3.7B agreement to expand passenger rail between DC and Richmond. I only mention it because it opens the possibility of expanded service between DC and Raleigh, and the deal includes the purchase of the S corridor between Petersburg and Norlina. A big part of the deal is a new, all passenger rail bridge over the Potomac which will increase on-time performance and capacity dramatically and makes RUS a more appealing destination from DC. Tangential, I know, but thought it was worth sharing. https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/plus/virginia-has-billion-deal-to-expand-rail-service-between-richmond/article_460c07a4-84d1-5b0c-9c0f-6dd384d7aa7b.html
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Yes, this is a very, very good thing for Raleigh rail service. Improved Richmond to Raleigh rail service will benefit both states and will make rail transit in North Carolina more robust.
Now we just have to make sure Raleigh is ready when that line gets redeveloped. We’re already going to replacing 3 at-grade crossings in North Raleigh next year that the yet-to-be planned-or-funded Raleigh to Richmond line will use.
Baby steps but they’re steps in the right direction.
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Yup. I dropped it into another thread.
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Not to mention goosing the NCRR and sealing the corridor to Charlotte.
Yeah, the Piedmont Improvement Program still left dozens of at-grade crossings that need to be remedied. Hope that there’s a PIP II sooner than later.
Also the rail line through Orange, Durham, and Wake Counties are only partially dual tracked so that will need to be addressed as well. I don’t know how much that would be on NCRR or local municipalities to fund.
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So, on another note as a further musing from my rambling around RUS this past weekend, I was looking over towards the future home of RUS Bus…
And, I thought, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be cool to have a direct connection to the parking pedestal/podium planned over there.’
Well, it appears that somebody has already had that idea…
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Second musing. Was looking north from the third floor of RUS…
And, trying to visualize what things could look like with SEHSR when it comes to town (especially in light of recent VDOT/CSX announcements)…
That being said, there’s going to be an awfully long schlep to get to the SEHSR platform from RUS. There had better be some kind of moving walkway in the tunnel back and forth.
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It will be a long schlep, but it will be no worse than the schlep to the H-line platform is today.
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Maybe so. It just looks to be a longer distance to Hargett Street. 
(And, that’s only to the end of the platform. Using the length of the current platform as a guide, it appears that the center might be closer to Morgan Street…)
There’s going to be some serious engineering going on when they shoehorn that between two active rail lines. Wheee!!
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According to SEHSR drawings in the EIS, there is space for four tracks and a single center platform under the Hillsborough Street Bridge, without having to rebuild the bridge. That will be a tight squeeze! All four tracks will probably be needed to have a high platform while accommodating freight movements in all directions on the wye. With a platform between the tracks under the bridges at Morgan and Hillsborough, it will probably look kind of like High Point today.
I like to imagine that some enterprising developer would build something over the tracks across Glenwood from One Glenwood that takes advantage of the train platform below. That’s the block bounded by Hillsborough, Glenwood, West, and Morgan. It could be a tower whose ground level can double as a second head house for accessing the HSR platform.
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Not to mention all of the howls of indignation when the grade crossings at Jones and Hargett streets get closed.
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RUSBUS should be designed so a bridge (maybe cars, but perhaps ped only?) can connect into its 3rd(ish) level from Boylan. Jones should receive a pedestrian tunnel (which is superior to a bridge when topography doesn’t demand one, don’t @ me)
I was thinking the same thing about additional access to the platform. It would be great for commuter access, although it would be a bit more complicated for Amtrak.
I’ve tried to wrap my brain around how to keep Hargett open. If it was a viaduct from Boylan, that’s one thing. But, where it touches down is another issue altogether without impacting the buses coming in/out of the street level of the structure. That is, unless, the viaduct skips over West altogether. But, then there’s a conflict with everything going on in The Dillon complex.
On the flip side, if the viaduct from Boylan terminates at the upper level of RUS Bus, that could work. A little wonky, but it could work. Another idea would be to launch from the end of Glenwood and viaduct over to RUS Bus. That would be kind of cool.
(Especially since I’ve not seen a point of entry into the parking portion of the structure.)
But, there would still need to be some kind of barrier to prevent trespass onto the tracks.
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Merry Christmas!
Launching from the end of Glenwood would have been cool, and it was part of the 2002-era multimodal station plan, but that is no longer an option (for cars anyway) because of the Origin Hotel that now sits at the terminus of Glenwood.
As commuter rail ramps up, however, making a convenient walking connection from Union Station in all directions will be important. Right now, while Union Station is beautiful, it’s quite a schlep to even get headed east towards downtown from the platform, since the concourse connects to the waiting area at the western (back) edge of the station complex. Heading in any other direction is even worse because you have to go to the back of the station, double back and head toward West Street, and then make your way to your destination from there. All-in-all it just isn’t a very passenger friendly station layout. It’s nearly a half-mile walk to get from the platform to Boylan Bridge Brewpub (or whatever that place is called anymore) which is ridiculous because it’s like 800 feet as the crow flies.
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That being said, it’s hard to say when SEHSR trains are going to get running. It might be that the north platform might not be ready in time. And, there’s been a suggestion that SEHSR trains use the south/current platform for a bit. That would require a backing move, not unlike what had to happen with the previous Raleigh Union Depot. But, it’s all speculation at this point.
Who knows, but maybe the commuter platform will be done by then. And, that could play in to the SEHSR service. Since nothing’s been built, it’s a blank slate at this point.
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Now, here’s a bit of 90’s history. When the Hillsborough Street bridge was in need of replacing, the new structure was designed with the possibility of the eastern portion of the gulch being dug out for the accommodation of the new TTA tracks.
There was a friend of mine who was operating a business in the storefront at 513 Hillsborough. His trade was custom leathergoods - jackets, fetish wear, etc. And, he had friends who had a sub-lease in the lower level which opened out back on to Martin Street. Their trade was rubber/latex gear for the same crowd. Top-side was a legacy billboard which was attached to the roof saying ‘24 Hour Sign Shop.’ Well, the ‘g’ fell off at some point, and they left it as is. But, it was emblematic of the roving warehouse parties that they operated. G-105 voted it as ‘The Best Party to Crash’ of that era.
Needless to say, there were some area folks who didn’t take too well to that, especially in the line of work that they did. But, they always came back saying that it was an act of nature, and that they really had no control of it.
Any way, when the TTA started making some headway in their regional rail plan, the hillside cut was going to slice into the side of their building. So, they packed up and closed shop, moving to Saint Louis.
But, obviously that didn’t happen. And, Raleigh’s brief period of large scale fetish parties came to a close.
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