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I have actually seen commuter rail lines in medians in places like Atlanta and Baltimore. For an example, check out the Buckhead Marta station in Atlanta on Google Maps in satellite view (just search Buckhead Station, Atlanta). The station and tracks are right down the middle of GA-400 which is a huge freeway. The Buckhead area is fairly dense, but the rail tracks continue north up the middle of 400 into the sprawl. It can be done.
To piggyback off that...
Owings Mills Metro Station in Baltimore County (median of I-795)
The four westernmost Orange Line stations on WMATA (Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, Dunn Loring-Merrifield, West Falls Church, East Falls Church) (median of I-66)
Stations in the median can work if there's nothing on the side of the highway - so you have room to build a park & ride or a transit oriented development or a combination of the two.
Generally, the closer the station is to where people live or work the more likely they are to use it. That puts stations in a highway median at a disadvantage. 70% of people will walk to a train station if it's 200 yards or less. Only 40% of people will walk a 1/4 mile (a 5 minute walk) and the number drops to 10% for a half mile. That's from a 1990 study and I suspect the numbers have improved since then - and the numbers are also a lot higher for the same distances when the walk is actually a pleasant one (ie, not on the side of a highway).
But Raleigh already has a solid rail infrastructure and given the relatively decentralized population regional rail (or commuter rail - which some people mistakenly refer to as "heavy" rail) should go in first. Use the existing freight network. I think light rail will really only work in a few places in the region, like connecting Chapel Hill to Durham.
Then use modern streetcars to connect the regional rail stations in downtown Durham and Raleigh with the universities and dense residential neighborhoods.
Use bus-rapid transit for the other busy corridors.
I have actually seen commuter rail lines in medians in places like Atlanta and Baltimore. For an example, check out the Buckhead Marta station in Atlanta on Google Maps in satellite view (just search Buckhead Station, Atlanta). The station and tracks are right down the middle of GA-400 which is a huge freeway. The Buckhead area is fairly dense, but the rail tracks continue north up the middle of 400 into the sprawl. It can be done.
Oh I agree it has been done in other places, but I think that it is an unlikely option for I-40. Several areas of I-40 don't even have a grassy median with any width. Many areas are so narrow they just have a jersey barrier separating the shoulders of the east and west bound traffic. There are a couple ways a light rail system may be doable in this area, but Retrofitting the median of an exisiting road like I-40 to have it run down the middle of it and finding locations along the way to have train stations for people to get on and off seems like one of the least viable options IMO. I do think it is good to continue the discussion on the light rail as one day it may become a reality here in the Triangle.
Last edited by North_Raleigh_Guy; 09-08-2008 at 06:37 AM..
I'm all for trolleys and park and ride but dense urban- forget it! More crime and expensive housing blech!
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