Press Releases and Newsletters
Agency Expects Congress to Authorize Third Round of TIGER Grants (D.C. Streetsblog)
Frustration With Stop-Gap Transpo Funding Shows at DOT Town Hall (D.C. Streetsblog)
Agency Expects Congress to Authorize Third Round of TIGER Grants (D.C. Streetsblog)
U.S. DOT’s top leaders (save Secretary Ray LaHood) fielded questions about the next long-term transportation bill this morning as part of a “town hall” session at agency headquarters. The conference, the sixth and final stop on a national listening tour, was billed as a chance to give feedback about how the transportation bill should take shape. While senior department staff adhered to the listening session format, divulging few specifics about their current thinking, they did provide a glimpse of the frustration over the ongoing lack of certainty for transportation funding.
One piece of news to come out of the session concerned the agency’s popular Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Polly Trottenberg reported that Congress will likely authorize a third year of the TIGER competitive grant program, which is seen as a model for allocating infrastructure investment based on strategic goals and criteria.
During the Q&A, DOT leadership made two points clear. The department wants and needs a long-term funding authorization, and they want to cut the time it takes to approve and finish projects.
“The series of short term authorizations is frustrating to us,” Deputy Secretary John Porcari said, pointing out that the department has gone through some weekend construction shutdowns caused by reauthorization delays. The most desirable outcome for DOT, Porcari said, is a long-term authorization with predictable funding.
The other frustrating point for DOT is the length of time it takes for a project to move from authorization to construction. “We simply take too long to deliver our projects,” Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez said. One of his policy priorities is to cut project times in half.
Beyond those two priorities, officials made few specific comments, returning to themes they’ve sounded previously.
Transit and rail freight issues were the hottest topic of the morning. Responding to a question about the upward creep of gas prices, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said that DOT cannot simply allow existing transit systems to “limp along.” Without getting into specifics, he implied that transit systems — many of which have been pummeled by financial shortfalls and service cuts — should be in a position to handle surges in demand. “We saw a considerable spike in ridership when gas hit $4 a gallon,” he said.
The panel also reinforced DOT’s commitment to interagency partnerships, exemplified by the partnership between DOT, HUD, and the EPA that seeks to promote smart growth and sustainability by building housing convenient to transit. “This interagency cooperation is central to where we are heading,” Porcari said.
by Chris McGann on July 14, 2010
Virginia senator will chair new two-state oversight board for fast trains (News and Observer)
Virginia senator will chair new two-state oversight board for fast trains (News and Observer)
Determined to dodge extra chores that could get in the way of their re-election priorities this year, two North Carolina politicians deftly engineered the election of a Virginia legislator today as the first chairman of the Virginia-North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Compact.
Rep. Nelson Cole, a Reidsville Democrat, nominated Virginia Sen. John C. Watkins to chair the 10-member board, which held its inaugural meeting in Raleigh, reports Bruce Siceloff.
“We’re in an election cycle and you folks aren’t,” Cole explained, smiling across the boardroom table at his Virginia counterparts. “We need to devote more time to it.”
Sen. Clark Jenkins, a Tarboro Democrat, seconded the nomination, and Watkins was elected without opposition.
Cole did not escape the burden of new duties altogether. A few moments later, on Jenkins’ nomination, Cole was voted vice chair.
Watkins, a Republican from Midlothian, Va., said the new two-state board will work to promote what he called “higher-speed” train service.
“It would be so much easier for the consumers who now have to fly through Charlotte or wherever,” Watkins said in an interview. “It makes a lot more sense to be able to get on a train that you can depend on to be on time — and just go.”
North Carolina and Virginia won $620 million in federal stimulus funds this year to make corridor improvements south of Raleigh and north of Richmond. North Carolina received the first $20.3 million of its share from Washington today, and will use the money to refurbish train locomotives and passenger coaches.
The two states plan eight public hearings, starting tonight in Norlina, on a draft environmental impact statement for a proposed $2.3 billion, 162-mile link from Raleigh to Richmond. Part of the planned Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, it would cut travel times between the state capitals by two hours.
Along with Cole and Jenkins, North Carolina is represented on the compact by Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, a Concord Republican, Rep. John May, a Louisburg Democrat, and Paul Cooke of Charlotte, an executive with HDR Engineering Inc. Virginia’s members are two senators and three House of Delegates members.
Submitted by janestancill on 2010-07-12 15:18
Read more: http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/virginia_senator_will_chair_new_twostate_oversight_board_for_fast_trains#ixzz0tVFYUXdw
Editorial: Fight over video sweepstakes may not have had final round (Greensboro News and Record)
Editorial: Fight over video sweepstakes may not have had final round (Greensboro News and Record)
Although a statewide ban on video sweepstakes is on a fast track to take effect Dec. 1, the last word has yet to be heard.
It wouldn’t be the first time that gambling foes thought that they’d finally pulled the plug on video machines only to have them surface in a new disguise. Unresolved court challenges have bought the industry time, allowing it to gain a solid foothold.
Backers aren’t easily deterred. Soon after the House overwhelmingly approved the measure on Wednesday, an industry support group vowed to continue the fight.
William Thevaos, president of the Entertainment Group of North Carolina, said in a statement, “We will look at all options available to us including our legal avenues and the advances of technology … allowing the industry to do business.”
Its lobbyists opposed the ban, instead arguing for regulation and taxation, which they claim would generate millions in tax revenues. Closing the estimated 900 sweepstakes locations, they add, will cost thousands of jobs as well as squelch individual choice.
But no matter how you spin it, the latest incarnation of video poker is a highly addictive form of gambling that hooks too many unsuspecting players.
During the House debate, Minority Leader Paul Stam of Apex noted that money spent by players “comes from somewhere,” suggesting it could be put to better use buying groceries or paying the mortgage.
Admittedly, that line of reasoning would resonate more convincingly if the state itself wasn’t deeply involved in the gambling business. What’s the difference, critics contend, between buying a lottery ticket and clicking a mouse on a game computer screen?
However, law enforcement officials have presented indisputable evidence linking a variety of crimes to video-based games of chance. Besides, two wrongs just don’t make a right.
Friday, July 9, 2010 (Updated 3:00 am)
Mayors debate town’s charm (The Chapel Hill News)
Mayors debate town’s charm (The Chapel Hill News)
Letter ignites war of words
BY MARK SCHULTZ, Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL – Gastonia Mayor Jennie Stultz was dining not long ago with then Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy.
It was pouring down rain during fall break, but Trilussa La Trattoria, the Italian restaurant on West Franklin Street was jam-packed, she said.
So when Stultz heard another North Carolina mayor had described Chapel Hill’s downtown as “slowly declining” this week, she laughed.
“Whenever I’m in Raleigh I make a point to drive through Chapel Hill – just one of those soul-soothing rides – just to see what a vibrant downtown should really look like,” she said Friday.
That was not Mel Cohen’s experience.
Cohen is the mayor of Morganton, a town of 17,000 in Burke County in the central western part of the state.
Cohen visited Chapel Hill last weekend and had a great time – in Carrboro.
In a letter to The Chapel Hill News, the 1964 UNC graduate said he “was saddened to see the deterioration” of Franklin Street.
“Chapel Hill is slowly declining, and it seems to me there may be an attitude of the Chapel Hill Town Council that downtown is not their priority,” Cohen wrote.
In an interview, Cohen, a former traveling salesman, said he visited his daughter in Chapel Hill and ate breakfast at Ye Ole Waffle House. He said the streets weren’t clean and the empty storefronts were dirty.
“Chapel Hill, in my mind, should stand on its own, should be almost perfect really,” he said.
“Look at Carrboro” next door, whose farmers market Cohen had visited Saturday morning. “It’s full. It’s vibrant. I love it.”
‘The coolest place’
The state of downtown and Chapel Hill in general, perhaps because so many North Carolinians feel a connection to it, comes up a lot.
Last year, Ted Abernathy, executive director of the Southern Growth Policies Board and a former Orange County economic development officer, said Chapel Hill may have lost its edge as Durham and other cities reinvented themselves.
“You used to be the coolest place,” he told the leaders at a breakfast meeting at the Siena Hotel.
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt shot back this week after The Chapel Hill News e-mailed him Cohen’s letter.
“I’m disappointed that Mayor Cohen had an experience that resulted in that kind of letter,” he said. “I think if he had spent more time in Chapel Hill, maybe he would learn many of his impressions are less than accurate.”
For one, Cohen might have learned Chapel Hill’s downtown has a 4.5 percent vacancy rate downtown, one-third of Morganton’s 13.5 percent rate.
“I think Chapel Hill’s doing a pretty darn good job,” Kleinschmidt said.
“Maybe he can get Southern Culture on the Skids to give a free concert in Morganton,” he added. “They just did in Chapel Hill last week.”
The Chapel Hill Town Council has taken steps to revitalize downtown. The town, university and downtown merchants helped form the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, which works on issues such as cleanliness, parking and panhandling.
The first homeowners in the 10-story Greenbridge condominium and retail project in downtown’s West End will move in this summer. Plans are under way for an eight-story condominium and retail project at 140 West Franklin Street.
Cohen predicted downtown towers in Chapel Hill would be “a tremendous eyesore.” Downtown Morganton has a three-story height limit, he said.
“That’s just super for Morganton,” Kleinschmidt said.
Liz Parham is the director of the state’s Office of Urban Development and the N.C. Main Street Center, which works to promote economic development and historic preservation in towns under 50,000 people. She once ran the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and said you can’t compare downtowns.
“Every downtown has its focus,” she said. “I think what’s important is every downtown focus its efforts to make it the most economically viable it can be.”
Stultz, the first woman mayor elected in Gastonia, agreed.
The city of 75,000 people in southwestern North Carolina has a six-story building and a seven-story building downtown – “what we call our skyscrapers” – with only one floor of tenants between them. “Every downtown is scrapping for residents and other kind of development downtown,” she said.
Despite Cohen’s letter, Kleinschmidt said, leaders like Stultz tell him all the time they wish they had a downtown like Chapel Hill’s.
“I hope he can come back so I can show him some of the things he missed.”
[email protected] or 932-2003
Gambling ban will deny Fayetteville revenue (Fayetteville Observer)
Gambling ban will deny Fayetteville revenue (Fayetteville Observer)
FAYETTEVILLE A city official estimates that Fayetteville will lose $1.2 million in new revenue because of the state’s ban on sweepstakes gambling businesses.
The City Council recently adopted a budget that included new fees on the owners of gaming parlors. The city planned to charge them $2,000 per location and $2,500 per computer terminal. Hope Mills adopted the same fees in June.
While the fees may seem high, they aren’t unprecedented; the city charges “privilege license” fees on an array of occupations and companies that do business in Fayetteville.
The General Assembly voted Wednesday to outlaw the gambling parlors, often called Internet cafes, starting Dec. 1. Gov. Bev Perdue is expected to sign the legislation.
Police Chief Tom Bergamine applauded the ban and said gambling parlors contribute to crime. He urged the governor to sign the bill.
Bergamine’s statement appeared to catch Assistant City Manager Doug Hewett off guard. He wrote Bergamine an e-mail the same day saying the legislature’s action will cost the city $1.2 million in lost revenue. “Not sure if that story is being told,” Hewett said in the e-mail.
Bergamine said gambling parlors are an attempt to get around the state’s ban on video poker machines.
Fayetteville Mayor Pro Tem D.J. Haire said the city budget included the new fees to begin taxing sweepstakes cafes if the state didn’t ban them.
“That was one way of hoping to slow it down,” he said.
Published Sun, Jul 11, 2010 04:30 AM
Modified Sun, Jul 11, 2010 04:30 AM
NC Legislature passes ban on Internet sweepstakes (Associated Press)
NC Legislature passes ban on Internet sweepstakes (Associated Press)
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Legislature voted Wednesday to attempt to make clear again that a 2006 ban on video poker also applies to computer-based sweepstakes games found at businesses inside strip malls and old storefronts statewide.
In an 86-27 vote that gave final passage to the bill, the House agreed to the Senate’s plan to eliminate by Dec. 1 the games that gambling opponents say seduce players and take their money.
The measure now goes to Gov. Beverly Perdue. Press Secretary Chris Mackey said late Wednesday the governor is expected to sign the bill into law.
The vote followed more than two hours of impassioned debate that crossed party lines.
Sweepstakes centers have proliferated since at least two trial judges blocked state agents and police from seizing the machines. The judges ruled that the video poker ban and an ensuing 2008 law designed to close a loophole don’t necessarily apply to the games. Those cases are pending.
Sweepstakes opponents said the Legislature meant to get rid of these kinds of machines, too. Wednesday’s bill, they said, should leave little doubt of its intention.
“I’m tired of playing whack-a-mole with this industry,” said Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison, one of the House’s chief supporters of the ban. “We’re trying to come back to you with a clear directive saying, number one, it’s gambling … and number two, it’s banned.”
The industry has said getting rid of the games could do away with up to 10,000 jobs during the ongoing economic slump. Supporters of the games say they’re not gambling but a form of entertainment and marketing for Internet or phone time or office services. Machine opponents say the games, found at more than 900 places statewide, are designed to get around the 2006 ban.
Neil Hoover of High Point, says the games enable his company’s 10 business service centers in the state to keep their doors open as they compete with places like The UPS Store. His outlets face an uncertain future.
“Without our sweepstakes, we probably won’t be able to compete with those businesses. They’re so much bigger than us,” Hoover said. “There are other states that actually welcome our industry.”
Still, a large majority of lawmakers joined local law enforcement officers and religious leaders in arguing the sweepstakes centers are essentially casinos with dozens of computer screens where customers lose money in only a few clicks of the mouse.
“This is an industry for people who do not have a choice, who are addicted on gambling,” said Rep. Grier Martin, D-Wake.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle questioned whether lawmakers should outlaw something that appeared to be a harmless form of entertainment to some but gambling to others. Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, tried unsuccessfully to get a motion heard that essentially would have delayed the bill until next year and avoided a tough vote.
“I’m tired of being judged on whether I’m moral or not depending on whether I support this bill,” said Rep. Carolyn Justice, R-Pender.
Sixteen of the 18 black Democrats present voted against the ban. Many were among the most vocal opponents and complained the Democratic leadership didn’t give them the option to consider the letting the state regulate the machines and collect revenues that will be sorely needed next year.
Sweepstakes machine operators argue lawmakers should have left the games in place while the General Assembly studies the issue and return next year to pass a law that would generate state revenues by licensing machines and owners. Amusement machine owners also argue it would be better to replace the video poker machine ban that took effect in July 2007 with legislation that would revive the industry and give the state 20 percent of the revenues.
“We’ve not had an opportunity to look at some legislation that some would consider relevant,” said Rep. Alma Adams, D-Guilford. “I’m just really disturbed at what I’ve seen in some ways.”
House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, voted for the ban and expressed his position to fellow House Democrats this week. Hackney told reporters the ban was the only option that had the support of a majority of members. Waiting until next year would have allowed the industry to expand even more, he said.
“I didn’t intimidate anybody. I jut announced my position, and the majority ruled,” Hackney told reporters after the vote.
The measure now would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to operate a game. Repeat offenders could be found guilty of a low-grade felony punishable by eight months to 2 1/2 years in prison.
The bill’s language would not outlaw arcade games and marketing games by soft-drink companies and other retailers that require the consumer to type in a code at a company’s website.
By GARY D. ROBERTSON (AP) – 4 days ago
Lawmakers wrap up marathon (Charlotte Observer)
Lawmakers wrap up marathon (Charlotte Observer)
After N.C. House and Senate finish crammed session at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, both parties claim victories.
RALEIGH — After all the bills, motions and votes of this legislative session, it’s time for N.C. legislators to go home and explain themselves.
Democrats, who were the majority, will talk about saving teacher jobs in the face of a disastrous economic situation. They’ve already started telling voters about tax credits and other programs meant to lure business and spur job growth. They’ll claim the mantle of reform because of an ethics and good-government package that was one of the last items approved.
“We have a good platform to leave on,” said Senate Leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat.
Republicans have a lot to say about the things that didn’t get done. They say the Democrats had low ambitions and put off important decisions – such as how to deal with an expected $3 billion shortfall next year. As it is, the current $18.9 billion budget delays until January cuts that will be necessary because Congress is unlikely to send to the state $500 million in Medicaid money.
“They were trying to do the least harm they could,” said Rep. Thom Tillis, a Cornelius Republican. “You saw bills that were carefully crafted to do the best they could to help themselves in November.”
Like schoolchildren with a project due, legislators crammed throughout the final week. In the last 24 hours, sessions were stop-and-start affairs that carried on until 5:30 a.m. Saturday. After a marathon week of pushing final bills, committee meetings and debates, the House and Senate wrapped up with a traditional ceremony – hugs and well wishes that looked an awful lot like the end of summer camp.
Republicans cleared out of the chamber. They may have good reason to look toward the fall. Because of a national mood that appears to be tilting against incumbents, especially Democrats, Republicans believe they have the advantage heading into this fall’s elections, when every seat in the legislature will be before voters. Democrats now control both chambers, but it’s not certain who will be in charge after November.
It is unlikely that voters will pick their senators and representatives based on how they voted on a particular amendment or whether they made the best floor speech. Instead, campaigns will focus on, and voters will respond to, big themes or hot-button issues.
“The Democrats, it seems to me, didn’t give Republicans any real ammunition like a tax increase,” said Gary Pearce, a longtime Democratic consultant and strategist.
Given how bad the fiscal situation was, the Democrats did a pretty good job handling the political situation, Pearce said. “It seemed to be a political version of the Hippocratic oath. Do no harm. And they didn’t.”
But Democrats did raise taxes last year to cope with a budget shortfall that was as large as $4.6 billion.
“They’re going to have to defend that,” said Dallas Woodhouse, state director of Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian advocacy group. “It makes it harder to pass things like taxpayer-funded elections.”
Woodhouse was referring to a proposal that was originally attached to the Senate’s ethics reforms. The provision would have included a broad expansion of publicly funded campaigns for statewide elected officials. The provision died almost immediately after Woodhouse’s group had former Charlotte mayor and Republican candidate for governor Pat McCrory record a robocall against it.
Woodhouse can also claim credit for swiftly watering down a bill that dealt with nutrition standards in day cares.
Republicans said the bill was a step toward “a nanny state” because it would have prohibited serving chocolate milk and juice boxes to children. Democrats argued the state already regulates nutrition and the bill followed the guidelines of a legislative task force that had studied the issue. Calls from Americans for Prosperity targeted conservative-leaning Democratic districts, and soon the bill was altered to only a set of suggestions.
Democrats in the Senate can crow about a ban on video sweepstakes parlors. The games rose out of the state’s ban on video poker, and Senate Democrats, led by Basnight, pushed a bill that sought to put the 900 parlors out of business.
“It would have been awful if North Carolina had allowed the growth of that sort of operation,” Basnight said.
The Senate forced the House to act. Democrats in the House, who were divided on video sweepstakes parlors, had previously agreed to not take action this session. When the vote came, several Democrats argued over whether killing the industry’s 10,000 jobs would hurt the state’s already struggling economy.
Speaker of the House Joe Hackney said Democrats can take credit for measures on jobs and ethics. They funded programs and provisions to stop waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid. The budget includes provisions to save teacher jobs with the use of lottery money.
Democrats have already started campaigning on moves they said will save jobs and spur small business. Hackney noted that once the session ends, he intends to start campaigning in his own district, where he faces a Republican challenger.
On Friday, during a break in sessions, he deflected Republican criticisms of how Democrats had handled the session.
“I’ve found that political rhetoric has little or nothing to do with what goes on down here,” said Hackney, an Orange County Democrat.
By Benjamin Niolet
[email protected]
Posted: Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/07/11/1555770/lawmakers-wrap-up-marathon.html#ixzz0tTsS8cvI
Legislators pass DNA database expansion bill (WRAL.com)
Legislators pass DNA database expansion bill (WRAL.com)
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina General Assembly on Saturday approved a bill letting investigators collect DNA samples from suspects when they are charged with certain crimes.
House Bill 1403, sponsored by Rep. Wil Neumann, R-Gaston; Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland; Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg; and Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, requires police to take DNA samples from people arrested on certain misdemeanor and felony charges. Current law requires only convicted felons to give samples.
The bill authorizes law enforcement to hold people who refuse to give a sample. If charges are dropped or the suspect is acquitted, the individual’s DNA sample must be removed from the database.
Attorney General Roy Cooper said having the samples in the state DNA database will help solve crimes by locating repeat offenders.
“It’s a win for North Carolina citizens,” Cooper told WRAL News.
However, some lawmakers say requiring the sample upon arrest amounts to unreasonable search and seizure.
Rep. Rosa Gill, D-Wake, voted against the bill. She agrees that DNA is a useful tool in helping law enforcement solve crimes, but argues that obtaining samples from suspects who have not been convicted goes too far.
“I feel like it’s unfair. I think it may be a type of targeting that we don’t intend for it to be,” Gill said.
So far, the state’s DNA database has helped solve more than 1,400 cases. Bill supporters argue that a wider database could solve as many as 100 new cases within the first year.
Kevin Blaine said he hopes one of those cases is his daughter’s slaying outside a Raleigh convenience store. Jenna Nielsen, 22, was found dead in June 2007, behind the AmeriKing Food Mart on Lake Wheeler Road.
Police have interviewed hundreds of people and received thousands of tips about the pregnant Fuquay-Varina mother’s slaying, but detectives still haven’t made an arrest in the case.
“We are one phone call away, one arrest away from solving my daughter’s case,” Blaine said. “If we can utilize a tool, such as the DNA (database), to put this person behind bars, then we should look at all avenues.”
Gov. Bev Perdue pushed for the legislation and said she sees DNA collection as an important tool for law enforcement officers.
“These samples will build a database that law enforcement can use to identify suspects and solve crimes. I know firsthand how effective this technology is. A friend of mine, Kathy Taft, was murdered earlier this year, and the suspect was caught through DNA analysis,” Perdue said in a statement.
Taft, a state Board of Education member, was beaten and sexually assaulted in a Raleigh home in March while recovering from surgery. The 62-year-old died three days later from her injuries.
Investigators became suspicious of Raleigh resident Jason Williford after he refused to provide a DNA sample. Sources say investigators eventually linked him to the Taft case through a discarded cigarette butt. He was charged with first-degree murder, rape and burglary in connection with Taft’s slaying.
The DNA database expansion legislation will take effect Feb. 1. Federal funds will be used to pay for a portion of the DNA testing. Eight additional forensic criminal analysts are expected to be hired to analyze and review samples, distribute swab collection kits to law enforcement and help with training.
Reporter: Beau Minnick
Photographer: Geof Levine
Web Editor: Minnie Bridgers
Charlotte wins $25 million to build streetcar line (Charlotte Observer)
Charlotte wins $25 million to build streetcar line (Charlotte Observer)
Federal grant will help complete planned system’s first leg, from transit center uptown to Presbyterian Hospital
More than 70 years after streetcars last ran in Charlotte, the city learned Thursday it won a $25 million federal grant that will bring them back by 2014.
The Federal Transit Administration grant will help build the planned streetcar line’s first leg, which will connect Presbyterian Hospital with the main transit station near Time Warner Cable Arena.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, who pushed to build the streetcar during the mayoral campaign in 2009, said the project will be a “catalyst” for new development and will provide “sorely needed jobs for Charlotte.”
The total cost of the 1.5-mile line will be $37 million. The city has set aside $12 million to build the first leg, but it hasn’t yet identified a source for the roughly $1.5 million needed to operate it each year.
The city eventually wants to build a 10-mile streetcar line from Beatties Ford Road to the site of the closed Eastland Mall. The entire project could cost $500million and would probably take at least two decades to build, assuming the line is built in small phases.
Construction on the 1.5-mile first leg must begin within 18 months, according to the FTA, or the city will lose the money. Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Dallas and Fort Worth also received money for streetcars. A total of 65 cities applied.
A consultant, URS Corp., is doing engineering work on how to build the line. The major question mark is what utilities are under the street and how many of them must be moved.
John Mrzygod, a streetcar project manager for the city, said he hopes the city can begin moving some utilities soon.
He said the construction work will be relatively hassle-free for drivers and businesses.
“This will be more surgical than Elizabeth Avenue,” Mrzygod said.
He was referring to a massive rebuilding of Elizabeth Avenue through Central Piedmont Community College, which included laying a half-mile of streetcar track into the road. Store owners along Elizabeth Avenue say the project crippled business.
The city must build rail tracks that loop around the Time Warner Cable Arena, where they will connect with the Lynx light-rail track. That will allow the streetcars to travel along the light-rail tracks to the Charlotte Area Transit System’s maintenance and storage yard, near the New Bern light-rail station.
From there, the city will probably install track on Trade Street to link with the existing track on Elizabeth Avenue.
To power the streetcar, the city will probably build a catenary – overhead wires that will be a canopy over the street.
The city is planning to use three existing trolley cars now used by Charlotte Trolley on its line from South End to uptown. CATS is eliminating that trolley line because of budget cuts.
The streetcar may eventually use more futuristic cars. But using the replica trolleys saved the city $8 million, said Mrzygod.
Idea still controversial
The idea of building a streetcar in Charlotte has been controversial.
Unlike the Lynx light-rail line, which operates in its own tracks and is often faster than cars, the streetcar will operate in the street. It will stop at traffic lights and will be stopped in congestion, just like a bus.
Though the streetcar is not faster than a bus, streetcar boosters have said it will help areas nearby. Developers will want to build near streetcar stops, supporters say.
Micah Javier, the general manager of the Nothing But Noodles restaurant on Elizabeth Avenue, said the streetcar would help business.
“It would bring good traffic between here and (downtown), which we’ve always looked forward to since we’ve opened,” he said. “Obviously, we’re going to be cautiously optimistic as to when it would finish.”
Myers Park resident Jenny Martella said she always looks for opportunities to walk, bike or take public transportation instead of driving, and would visit businesses along Elizabeth Avenue with a streetcar.
“You bet I’ll be using those cars,” she said. “It’ll be so much fun.”
Republicans on the Charlotte City Council have been wary of spending money on the streetcar. But Foxx and his Democratic colleagues have pushed to spend money on it, even before federal money became available.
Under the Bush administration, streetcars weren’t eligible for federal transit funding. But the Obama administration has changed those rules, and the FTA awarded $130 million in streetcar grants Thursday.
“The city was in a position and ready to go,” Foxx said. “When the FTA looked … Charlotte had prepared itself.”
The City Council must vote to accept the grant in July, but that’s considered a formality.
Operating costs a question
When the streetcar is built, it’s unclear who will pay the estimated $1.5 million in annual operating costs.
CATS chief executive Carolyn Flowers has said the transit system can’t afford it. CATS has had to raise fares three times since 2007 and has had to cut some bus routes and eliminate jobs to balance its budget.
The streetcar line will be so short that it won’t replace any existing bus system. CATS will probably still operate the Gold Rush line along Trade Street, which runs inside Interstate 277.
If the streetcar is built and then extended to Gateway Village on West Trade Street, CATS could in theory stop operating the Gold Rush Red Line.
Republican council member Andy Dulin said he will vote against accepting the grant, in part because of the recurring operating costs.
“That’s $1.5 million we don’t have,” Dulin said. “CATS has said many, many times they don’t have the money to help with design, building it or running it. We could spend that money fixing potholes throughout the city.”
Dulin said he’s also concerned that the city’s marquee intersection – Trade Street and Tryon Street – could become cluttered with overhead wires if the streetcar is extended to the north.
City officials have said it’s possible the streetcar could eventually use overhead wires for part of its journey, then use batteries for other stretches of the line. If that happens, the city wouldn’t need to stretch overhead wires over the entire line.
Charlotte’s streetcar system started in the late 1880s with a horse-drawn system, and the last electric streetcar ran in 1938.
The starter line for the modern streetcar will run on familiar terrain. Around the turn of the century, a streetcar line was extended on Trade Street to Elizabeth College, which became the site of Presbyterian Hospital, said Charlotte historian Dan Morrill.
“That’s repeating history,” Morrill said. Staff writer Lisa Du contributed.
By Steve Harrison
[email protected]
Posted: Friday, Jul. 09, 2010
Virginia DOT Reduces Payments to Counties for Road Maintenance (AASHTO)
Virginia DOT Reduces Payments to Counties for Road Maintenance (AASHTO)
Virginia officials have eliminated much of the state’s funding for regional secondary-road programs because of a budget crunch. Dozens of road improvements and repairs across the state will grind to a halt by July and August as the new fiscal year begins.
In Northern Virginia, a Washington Post analysis found at least $68 million worth of road projects are slowing down or have been canceled because of the state’s June budget decision to focus on existing primary-road projects that handle more traffic and are eligible to receive federal matching money.
“We are seeing the secondary-road pavements continue to age and deteriorate, and we simply do not have enough resources at this time to address those needs,” said Jeff Caldwell, a Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman.
In 2004, the state’s most-populous county, Fairfax County in the Washington suburbs, received $29 million from VDOT for secondary-road maintenance. Last fiscal year, the county received $238,000. That amount has shrunk to $1,989 for the fiscal year that began Thursday.
