What should rail station area look like?
Workshop looks at parking, traffic and redevelopment of old mill
Brian Jenest of Cole Jenest & Stone (left) and Brian Nadolny of CATS show an aerial photo of the proposed Davidson commuter rail station area at Friday’s workshop. (David Boraks photo)
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
Planners, transit officials, property owners and residents gathered at Town Hall Friday afternoon to begin sketching what the area around a future downtown commuter rail station might look like. The conversation focused on details – such as the number of parking spaces needed, traffic flows and potential new streets – and also grand plans, including the tantalizing possibility of a major redevelopment of the aging mill complex off Depot Street known as the Metrolina Warehouse.
The proposed North Commuter Rail Line would run from Charlotte to Davidson and possibly Mount Mourne. Davidson has previously identified a site along the west side of Jackson Street, near the old mill/warehouse, as the best place for a commuter rail station. Friday’s workshop was part of an $5 million engineering study now underway that is designed to help Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) firm up cost projections for the commuter rail line.
The four-hour workshop included representatives from CATS and its consultants: the Charlotte based firms HDR and Cole, Jenest & Stone – a firm run by Davidson town board member Brian Jenest. Friday’s session was the third of three held in recent days. Other sessions looked at station-area plans for Cornelius and Huntersville.
DAVIDSON ISSUES
Major issues that came up during the meeting included:
PARKING WANTED
CATS’ assistant project manager Brian Nadolny said at the outset of the workshop that CATS needs to know how many parking spaces are needed or wanted in the station area. He and his consultants mentioned 125 spaces as a possibility. During the session, Davidson town planner Kris Krider and other speakers suggested that might not be enough. He suggested 200 or more spaces might be a better number.
 Former Cornelius mayor Gary Knox (green shirt) talks about the station area plan with (from left) Brett Wallace of HDR, Doug Knox, and Jonathan Crowder of Cole Jenest & Stone. |
“We don’t want to have too little parking,” Mr. Krider told the gathering. If that happens, he said, “You know where it’s going to end up: in front of your house or business.”
Elaine Funderburk, Davidson’s postmaster, noted that the downtown already has parking problems. “I have 39 spaces (at the post office) and I already can’t control it. I think 125 is not enough,” Ms. Funderburk said.
Although CATS’ light rail south of Charlotte was controversial, it has attracted more riders than expected, and that has put pressure on parking lots along the line. Mr. Nadolny acknowledged that parking projections have been difficult.
“We have our model,” he said, but “the only thing that happens with every single station is you know you’re going to be wrong.” He said some lots are jammed with commuters daily, while others are not.
WHAT IS JACKSON STREET?
While much of the discussion was about specifics, planners and residents also talked more generally about how the proposed transit station would change the nature of dowtown and Jackson Street.
Mr. Krider said the town would like to keep Jackson Street from becoming “a sewer for traffic,” a phrase he borrowed from former Mayor Randy Kincaid. Today, Jackson Street’s “primary function is service. If there’s a transit stop, it’s function will be to serve the transit station. But it shouldn’t submit to being just a service corridor,” he said.
“Does a new face of Jackson Street want to emerge opposite the transit station?” he asked. That could include shops, apartments, and a mix of other uses, he said.
Because Jackson Street will be “more and more burdened with responsibility,” Mr. Krider said, it will be important to design other new streets and street connections, so traffic will have an alternative.
RAIL PROJECT TIMELINE
With the engineering study now underway, the North Corridor Commuter Rail Line project is progressing. But it’s still far from a done deal.
CATS will use the cost estimates the study generates to home in on a more accurate projection for the entire project. CATS currently estimates the line will cost $261 million, but that number will change this fall, Mr. Nadolny said.
He said the engineering study will include “100 percent” engineering for rail upgrades, sidings, grade crossings and the signal and control system. It will include partial engineering (about 30 percent) for other work, including station designs and a train maintenance facility.
The goal is to have a new overall estimate in hand sometime this fall, so the towns can devise a financing plan. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, or MTC, will vote next spring whether to proceed with either or both the North Corridor line or the proposed Northeast light rail line, which would extend light rail service from Charlotte to the university area.
The rail project will not be eligible for federal funding under current rules because ridership projections are too low. So area towns have already begun discussing financing options, including TIF, or tax increment financing, which would dedicate a portion of future tax revenues from transit-related developments to pay for the rail line.
Officials say the North Corridor line, which they’re calling the “Purple Line” would be far cheaper to build than either the completed south line or the proposed Northeast Line, mainly because it can use existing track and right of way.
RELATED COVERAGE
June 11, 2008, “4 town boards back idea of regional transit body”
May 2, 2008, “Task force proposes regional transport body”
Feb. 26, 2008, “Council OKs rail engineering study”
Mayors Transportation Task Force - The mayors of Mooresville, Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville formed a task force in January to study regional transportation issues, including the North Corridor Line and I-77 widening. See the topics and link to our reports on the meetings, CLICK HERE>
Filed under: Commuter rail line, Planning & Development, Transportation
