BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for October 5, 2009

Let's call this a "Late Edition" of the Fishwrap, coming a bit later than normal as yours truly is on the road for the next couple of days. In the news:

Treyburn-Area Middle School Scrutinized: A nice look yesterday at the controversy surrounding a site for a new middle school near Treyburn. Residents of the upscale golf community are solidly in favor, noting dissatisfaction with the existing Chewning Middle and the positive impact on home values. Nearby, Snow Hill Rd. residents are upset about traffic impact from a planned school and City park and which both would go somewhere else. DPS says it's made modifications based on meetings with Snow Hill Rd. residents -- and the H-S notes that if the property were developed for more housing, as originally planned, the traffic impact would be even higher. Construction has to be underway by next July under the terms of the land's grant to local governments. Expect fireworks at an informational meeting next Tuesday night. (Herald-Sun #1, #2, #3)

McLaughlins' Grant on Hold: As foreshadowed by last week's change in plans by the McLaughlins and a failure to reach a mediated agreement with The Know bookstore owner Bruce Bridges, there won't be a vote tonight on the incentive grant applied for by the McLaughlin family for their property on Fayetteville St. The Know still has to be out by year's end, and the family plans an art gallery in the space instead as part of their scaled-back effort. Per the H-S, a future revised incentives grant application remains likely. (Herald-Sun)

NC Weighs in on SE High-Speed Rail: Of all the states looking for rail service improvement funding, NC is one of just four (sez the N&O) that has well-firmed plans, having completed most of the necessary studies and having taken a lead role in the planned Southeast High-Speed Rail corridor that would link Washington, DC with southeastern states. The $5.3 billion requested by the state would allow double-tracking and fewer at-grade crossings within the state, shortening the Raleigh-to-Charlotte trip to 2 hours, 15 minutes (with 8 daily round tips); most of the funding would reactivate an old rail line from Raleigh to Petersburg, Va., shortening trips to the nation's capital to 4 hours, and eventually less if Virginia gets funds to shorten the Richmond-DC run. NC is in the running with a number of states for a limited $8 billion stimulus allotment, but more funding is expected in the coming years. (N&O)

Overwhelming Opposition to Digital Billboard Changes: By a 9-to-1 ratio, Durham residents support maintaining current restrictions on billboards according to a poll commissioned by the DCVB, with support strongest among those who've lived here for between three and twenty years, and among both white and African-American residents. It's a finding that might put pause in elected officials' minds as they consider a likely request from outdoor ad firm Fairway to open the door to electronic/digital signs. (Herald-Sun)

Durham History Museum Online: The proposed Museum of Durham History is still but a proposal in the physical realm, but has established a virtual outpost on the Internet at www.museumofdurhamhistory.org. The site has info on the proposed museum as well as a precis history of the Bull City and County. (The Durham News)

iContact Looks to Expand: Email marketing firm iContact, which currently employs 180 persons in their Meridian corporate park in south Durham, is expecting to grow by one-sixth in the near future and is seeking larger space in Durham, RTP, or Wake County. (N&O)

World Beer Fest a Hit: A full crowd of 8,000 made it to the World Beer Festival's two sessions this Saturday back at its Durham Athletic Park home, tasting 350 beers from American and countries around the world. (Herald-Sun)

Duke Expands Vets Memorial: A wall on Duke's West Campus that memorializes alumni who died in World War II will be expanded to include veterans for more recent wars, after an effort by the university to find other alumni who perished in combat in Korea, Vietnam and the like. (Herald-Sun)

Less Special Olympics Funding: Durham's Parks & Rec department has cut back on Special Olympics programming due to the budget, sending fewer teams to state tournaments among other actions. Fundraisers are in the works to help make up the difference. (Herald-Sun)

Comments

[Todd P]

From the N&O story on high speed rail:
"The 174-mile route between Raleigh and Charlotte would be double-tracked, with around 30 new bridges to eliminate most at-grade road crossings."

This would have a significant impact in Durham. Almost every place the railroad crosses a road in Durham is either an at-grade crossing or a substandard, low-clearance bridge.

Would any of Durham's crossings be eliminated? At-grade crossings currently include
Grant St
S Fayetteville
S Dillard
S Mangum
Corcoran St
S Duke St
S Buchanan
Broad St
Anderson St
LaSalle St
Neal Rd

Would any of the many the low-clearance bridges like Roxboro St, Chapel Hill St, or Gregson St be replaced?

Plus, the addition of a second track would include new track through most of Durham. Other than short stretches at the rail yard in E Durham, downtown, and west of Neal Rd, the rail line through Durham is a single track. The addition of the second line would also increase the likelihood of commuter rail in the Triangle.

[Tar Heelz]

Where do they come up with a 174 mile route from Raleigh to Charlotte? Google Maps puts it at just 164 miles by highway from train station to train station. I would guess it is considerably shorter than this by rail.

Also, I still wonder how many folks will park their cars at the station, wait for the train, ride the train to another station, and either rent a car or take public transportation to their final destination. The drive time between stations is 2 hours, 40 minutes according to Google.

Is 25 minutes in actual point to point travel time enough to shift behaviors? (I would think not given the time required waiting at the train station. Amtrak says you must arrived at least 30 minutes prior to departure.)

You would think the high-speed option would have to be appreciably faster than the current interstate option. Let's crank those design speeds up a bit, eh?

[Katharine]

@ Todd P

If you're interested, the Rail Division has posted their ARRA applications here:
http://www.bytrain.org/fra/default.html

The 8/24 project list at the top has short descriptions of the all of the projects included in the applications. From a quick skim, it looks like Durham is featured in NC1, NC4 and NC8. I found two crossing closures: Church St (near Hopson Rd) and Wrenn Rd in East Durham and three grade separations: Hopson Rd, Ellis Rd and Glover Rd.

There is also mention of improvement of five bridges between the 751 bridge ("Funston") and Durham Station to accomodate double track -- that might include the Chapel Hill St and Gregson St bridges.

[Todd P]

Thanks Katharine - that's good information.

Building a second track through Durham would effect a bunch of things that have encroached on the RR ROW over the years - buildings, city streets, etc. It would also include some pretty significant construction / fill right behind Brightleaf.

[Seth Vidal]

Wow. The item about new railroads made my day. If they're saying 4 hours from Raleigh to DC then that brings the Raleigh->Richmond trip comes down to what? 2 hours? If so I may find myself not needing a car anymore for the trip I make the most often.

Is there anyone I need to write to to continue encouraging this?