Editor,
The obviously failing Red Line rail effort championed by our liberal-leaning, big-spending north Meck mayors (Woods, Tarte and Swain) in concert with Anthony Foxx and Beverly Perdue's Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is welcome news for taxpayers. The real tragedy, however, is that this aggressive, extremely well-organized, and high-energy initiative could have been profoundly constructive for regional transportation if focused on our true priorities.
The Red Line never made common sense. This gigantic (likely double the $452 million estimate per most prior experience nationally) government project (is) intended to build commuter rail from Mooresville to Gateway Station, several blocks from Trade and Tryon. Astonishingly, there were never current or even planned rail connections anywhere (SouthPark, UNCC, airport etc.). Less than 3 percent of commuters would ride the train routinely. The hyper growth ($5 billion worth) required to finance the project would either not have happened at even a fraction of forecast (per Blue Line experience) or would have created extreme new stresses on our roads (95 percent of residents living even right on the rail line use local roads daily), schools, and other public services — forcing our tax rates up dramatically.
Predictably, the Red Line has now been fully revealed as lacking any real support:
• Norfolk Southern (NS), the actual owner of the rail line has no interest. NS's shocking letter to NCDOT last week established firmly their opposition to the project on numerous, fundamental grounds (operational exclusions, liability protection costs, NS control, expired environmental review, needed infrastructure, unrealistic timelines, legal challenges — their list is long).
• Local property owners who must approve paying the special assessment district (SAD) tax are virtually all saying, "no way, makes no sense economically."
• Iredell County has voted unanimously to oppose the project with the Iredell County Commission Chairman describing all this as "cockamamie," "insane," and a "fairy tale."
• Even Democrat-controlled Mecklenburg County is now ceasing further consideration until all issues raised in the NS letter and with Iredell County are resolved.
• The state legislature lacks significant interest in the project. Thankfully, we now have a conservative, fiscally responsible majority that recognizes the likelihood that the Red Line Rail will go way over budget, predicted Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenues will not show up on time, and the State of North Carolina will be on the hook for a massive bailout of the bondholders.
All of this is not really surprising given how dumb the idea was from the beginning. Tragically, though, we have missed a great opportunity to focus all this time and energy on expanding critical roads, confirming a near-term letting date for I-77 expansion, and planning a 21st-century rapid bus transit (RBT) system, like the one now under way in Connecticut (technology-driven, supremely flexible, extremely high quality experience for commuters). We also must continue to carefully manage our residential growth. This is the other side of the coin and is equally imperative.
— Dave Gilroy, Cornelius
Huntersville's lack of sidewalks appalling
Just wanted to thank you for publishing the story "Walking the Walk" on Jan 19.
As a new resident of Huntersville, I have been appalled at the lack of sidewalks and pedestrian access in this town, especially in and around the "downtown."
It is sad to me to see bus stops all up and down highways 21 and 73 that are neither covered by any shelter, nor are they connected to anything except grassy ditches. What kind of effort is it going to take to correct this and other connectivity problems? I have read the Huntersville 2030 town plan, I can only hope the citizen-oriented infrastructure improvements will be put into action soon.
— Eric Rood, Huntersville
