Proposal could slow travel, sidetrack Charlotte station.
Rep. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg, thinks passenger trains are little more than a “joy ride” and that spending taxpayers’ money on rail infrastructure does nothing to relieve traffic congestion or improve safety.
He’d have a hard time proving that to passengers on recent sold-out trains or those who sit in long lines while freight trains rumble by at grade crossings, but his campaign against passenger trains is more about politics than fiscal restraint. If this were about spending, he would push for legislative review and approval of every dime the N.C. Department of Transportation gets, not just acceptance of rail grants of $5 million or more that require state matches or significant maintenance costs.
Killian, co-chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, believes passenger trains rob the state highway budget of too much money helping maintain popular rail travel between Raleigh and Charlotte – launched with the bipartisan support of Govs. Jim Martin and Jim Hunt.
Killian failed in his attempt to stop a recent $461 million grant in federal funds that will help improve trackage, reduce travel times and boost railroad infrastructure. But he has gotten tentative approval for bureaucratic hurdles to receiving more rail money in two House bills, including the proposed state budget.
His objection to passenger rail displays a disdain for travelers who want more alternatives to $4-per-gallon automobile travel across the Piedmont Crescent. This is a narrow approach to transportation. By riding any of six daily trains between the state capitals of government and commerce, travelers can avoid the traffic crushes of the Research Triangle, the rush-hour congestion of the Triad area and the mind-boggling bumper-to-bumper traffic of I-85 and other major routes in the Charlotte area.
With the latest grant from the federal government, state rail officials say thousands of jobs will be created to improve rail facilities, and cut another 13 minutes from the rail trip. That’s not inconsequential: it represents a roughly 7 percent decrease in rail travel time. Anyone have a plan in mind for cutting auto travel time from Charlotte to Raleigh by 7 percent?
Widely overlooked in the overheated discussion of this project is the fact that much of the money will indeed go for traffic congestion relief and safety. The project involves building a dozen bridges and closing some 30 grade crossings that both pose a danger to car traffic and regularly result in long lines as drivers wait for passenger and freight trains to pass. The project will also pay for 28 miles of double tracks to speed rail traffic.
Rail travel enables those who need to conduct business on the go to do so safely. The use of cell phones by car drivers may pose as much of a traffic hazard as drinking and driving. Rail travelers can sit back, relax and talk business for more than three hours if they wish without having to worry about hitting another vehicle – or getting hit by one.
Lawmakers who reject the suggestion they’re micromanaging transportation policy are disingenuous. The delays this hurdle will impose may jeopardize future rail grants that would help pay for a new rail station in uptown Charlotte. It likely will slow travel for citizens in the future who wish not to further foul the air and crowd N.C. highways driving back and forth across this state. It’s a bad idea.
Posted: Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011
