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Assume Wake County gets on board, and the Durham-Wake commuter rail officially receives the OK. The current eastern terminus is in a great spot on Greenfield Parkway in Garner.
What would it take for Johnston County to come on board? Clayton would be another 6 miles east. And the Selma Amtrak station is 20 miles from Greenfield.
I know the County Commissioners there are more conservative and what not. But the investment would be relatively cheap. There would only need a new station in Clayton.
“The town of Wendell has said, ‘We don’t want to be involved in this if all we’re going to get is a bus ride to Triangle Town Center,’ ” Coble said. “Let’s say the guys in Zebulon don’t want anything, yet they’re going to be paying taxes. How is that possibly fair?”
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Read more here: RALEIGH: Wake leaders break the ice on transit talk | Wake County | NewsObserver.com[/LEFT]
Comments like this make me apprehensive of a country referendum. Transit, like other transportation improvements, has benefits beyond mere utility. Attracting jobs, improving access for all, relieving development pressure on the fringes, improving efficiency, increasing options, etc. are all benefits we stand to reap, even out in Wendell or Zebulon (who are by no means islands).
If our commissioners can't understand those benefits in the context of the county, region, and state how will the average person make those connections?
Assume Wake County gets on board, and the Durham-Wake commuter rail officially receives the OK. The current eastern terminus is in a great spot on Greenfield Parkway in Garner.
What would it take for Johnston County to come on board? Clayton would be another 6 miles east. And the Selma Amtrak station is 20 miles from Greenfield.
I know the County Commissioners there are more conservative and what not. But the investment would be relatively cheap. There would only need a new station in Clayton.
The NC Railroad Company did a study several years ago where they explored the idea of extending the transit corridor further, but I'm not sure where that stands. Here's an old article with a map:
Basically, Johnston would need to come up with a plan to provide a portion of the funding. Possibly they could hold a transit tax referendum. Johnston is authorized to levy up to 0.25% sales tax countywide, for the purpose of transit. This would also possibly not be very popular unless it brought something to the table to the rest of the county as well - transit lines to Selma and Princeton for example, plus bus service everywhere else.
Comments like this make me apprehensive of a country referendum. Transit, like other transportation improvements, has benefits beyond mere utility. Attracting jobs, improving access for all, relieving development pressure on the fringes, improving efficiency, increasing options, etc. are all benefits we stand to reap, even out in Wendell or Zebulon (who are by no means islands).
If our commissioners can't understand those benefits in the context of the county, region, and state how will the average person make those connections?
Honestly, while I am a supporter of transit and rail, Wendell has a bit of a point. If the plan truly is to stick them having to take a bus to triangle town, the system is not going to be very useful to them at all. There are lots of people that live out the 64 corridor and there has been absolutely no talk of anything running out that way. This is where I think they are focusing too much on cheap, when in the end, it is going to hurt the system overall. At the very least, since this is a system for the future anyway, start showing phase 2, 3 or whatever on the maps going out to those eastern towns (where there is already train corridor now) so that it looks like they are actually planning.
I also find it interesting how much they want to stick to existing corridors, yet look at how much in the Orange and Durham county runs on existing corridor? Half? Maybe. Look at the amount of elevated track they are constructing. If you are going to do that, just ignore the current corridors.http://ourtransitfuture.com/wp-conte...t-Stations.pdf
Also, ourtransitfuture.com has got to get a better site. There ought to be a great big link right on the front page that says CURRENT MAPS right on the front page. You have to dig too deep to find anything, then its not clear if what you have found is current or not. Here are the maps btw. http://ourtransitfuture.com/library/gallery/
I don't understand people who are against transit. What are our options? Do nothing! Build more roads? Widen existing roads? We have 440 and 540. Should we build 640 too! The traffic is not bad at all right now. 10-15 years from now what will it be like then. I drive a truck for a living so I am kinda informed on the road conditions. I see out of state tags more and more everyday. The population is growing by leaps and bounds. When the roads are clogged and rush hour starts at 3. Like in Charlotte then we can do something about it then. When it's too late! The triangle is a great place to live. Everyone in the country knows this. Part of the great quality of life here is we don't spend half our day stuck in gridlock.
I like public transit. I used it everyday to go to work. I take the subway into DC. Proper planning required for planning the route instead of politics or liberalism. If you look around the country, a lot public rail system built to linking the ghetto to the nicer neighborhood. No planning whatsoever.....Look at Baltimore as a good example. Nobody take the public transit..
Also, light rail don't really help traffic much if no one taking it. It will take up lane spaces for the rail and you will have all the overhead power line.
Personally I like monorail instead. It's easier on the construction, aesthetic reason, cost and efficiency
Personally I like monorail instead. It's easier on the construction, aesthetic reason, cost and efficiency
The cost for a monorail line would actually be more expensive in this area as they plan to use existing rail lines. Also you don't necessarily have to run overhead power lines for light rail.
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