[Durham INC] Thoughts on the Grade Separation Study

[Joshua Allen]

Steve, you know better than most how to work the process and I agree with all the goals. However, if those grade separations are built as designed, there will be no need for the passenger trains because no one will want to live here. 

--Joshua 
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> On Nov 22, 2013, at 8:48 AM, "Tom Miller" <tom-miller1 at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> Excellent, Steve.
>  
> thanks
>  
> Tom
>  
> From: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve Schewel
> Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 9:33 AM
> To: inc-list at rtpnet.org
> Subject: [Durham INC] Thoughts on the Grade Separation Study
>  
> Dear INC Friends,
> I had previously posted these comments on the ABCD listserv, and a couple people suggested that I post it on the INC list as well. So here it is, and I hope it's useful:
> 
> I wanted to add some information to Eric Heidt's good summary of where the
> city council is on the grade separation study.
> 
> Norfolk-Southern is driving the process because it wants to move its
> freight as quickly and safely as possible through Durham. The NC DOT study
> calls for expenditures of more than $100 million over many years to
> complete the grade separation changes that they envision. This includes
> some street closings and various overpasses including their very bad idea
> for a walled-off trench through downtown. This would divide downtown and
> would be very unfriendly to pedestrian traffic.
> 
> In the long run, with the advent of a real mass transit rail system
> connecting Durham to Raleigh and Chapel Hill, we will have many, many more
> trains running through this same corridor--as many as 100 per day compared
> to about 6 per day now. So it is also in the interest of Durham citizens to
> have a decent plan for grade separation. Otherwise we will have continual
> delays for cars and pedestrians wanting to cross the tracks. So while the
> current N-S-driven plan isn't a good one, we do need to continue to pursue
> this.
> 
> There is plenty of time to get this right. There is no funding on the
> horizon for any of the overpasses.
> 
> There is also another important factor: I don't think Durham ought to agree
> to anything that Norfolk-Southern wants in terms of the grade separation
> until N-S comes to the table on some of the things that are important to
> Durham which they have thus far stonewalled- -particularly the Duke
> Beltline. This abandoned rail line through downtown could be an incredible
> rails-to-trails asset for downtown and the whole city, and N-S has shown no
> willingness to work with us on this. We currently have a $2.1 million
> federal earmark acquired several years ago for the Beltline by Rep. David
> Price. But N-S has recently raised the price for the Beltline to a
> ridiculously high $7 million. If N-S wants the grade separations, they need
> to work with us on the Beltline.
> 
> As Eric described, the council' s position on the grade separations now is
> two-fold. On the one hand, we have not agreed to any street closings or to
> any of the specific grade-separation plans presented to us by NC DOT. On
> the other hand, we have asked for the Blackwell/Mangum grade crossing to be
> "scored" by the NC DOT under Gov. McCrory' s new transportation funding
> system. It's complicated, but suffice it to say that there is a "statewide
> pot" of money which funds freight corridors that might get this first--and
> most important--grade separation off the ground, and it's worth getting
> that into the funding queue now. This is a years-long process. This does
> not in any way include the endorsement of the DOT's lousy design for that
> grade crossing.
> 
> Maybe this is too much detail, but suffice it to say that the council wants
> N-S to come to the table to talk about the Beltline along with grade
> separation; that the council has not agreed to or even considered any
> street closings or specific grade crossing designs; and that the council is
> at the same time interested in getting this corridor, including the grade
> separations, improved because of the long-term needs for mass passenger
> transit through this corridor, and to that end we are getting the most
> important grade crossing into the state DOT "scoring" queue.
> 
> Probably more than you wanted to know.
> 
> Best wishes,
> Steve Schewel
>  
>  
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