4-min interview: Carroll Gray of Lake Norman Transportation Commission talks about how a federal rules change might affect the proposed project, and about an upcoming Urban Land Institute panel to help towns plot the future

Federal officials last week adopted a new policy on evaluating mass-transit funding applications, reducing the heavy emphasis on cost and ridership and giving more weight to the potential economic development benefits of transit projects. That could give a boost to the proposed 25-mile North Commuter Rail Line from Charlotte to Mooresville, says Carroll Gray, executive director of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission. Read the full story

Norfolk Southern railroad tracks off Jackson Street on a gray day Wednesday. (David Boraks photo)

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Catawba Avenue extension is near completion on the east side of the railroad tracks, off N.C. 115 in Cornelius. (David Boraks photo)

Cornelius officials say a major reconstruction of the main downtown intersection, at Catawba Avenue and N.C. 115, could by completed by Jan. 1.  The work is extending Catawba Avenue east across the railroad tracks and into Antiquity Cornelius, a 128-acre development that eventually could include 1,000 homes as well as offices and shops. Read the full story

A lack of funding and has changed the picture. How will it affect hopes for commuter rail north of Charlotte?

The head of Charlotte Area Transit System said Thursday a long-range plan the system’s board approved in 2006 is “no longer financially feasible” and will need to be reviewed and updated in the coming months. Read the full story

Updated Thursday, 9/24/09, 5:13 p.m.
Mayors from north Mecklenburg spoke out at Wednesday night’s Metropolitan Transit Commission in Charlotte in hopes of keeping alive the North Corridor Commuter Rail Line, which they fear is being lost in the shuffle as Charlotte leaders push for other projects. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

With prospects dimming for commuter rail north of Charlotte anytime soon, officials in north Mecklenburg and south Iredell on Monday endorsed a new strategy aimed at re-shaping the debate over regional transit planning. The joint statement by Davidson and three other towns comes on the eve of Wednesday’s Metropolitan Transit Commission meeting, where area mayors hope to counter what they fear is MTC’s shift away from the north corridor.

The statement by the Lake Norman Transportation Commission is part of stepped up efforts to save the proposed 25-mile rail line from limbo. Read the full story

Regional group also forms an I-77 task force

Lake Norman Transportation Commission plans a pair of meetings in the coming weeks to look at regional transportation planning and prospects for improvements on I-77.

The group, which includes representatives from Davidson, Mooresville, Cornelius and Huntersville, was formed about 7 months ago. So far, it has studied and issued resolutions in favor of improvements on N.C. 73 in Huntersville and supporting roadwork promised by the developer of the Augustalee mixed-use project in Cornelius.

“I-77 is a logical next issue for us,” Carroll Gray, executive director of the commission, said Friday. Read the full story