Five Points route favored for Raleigh, N.C., high-speed rail
Written by jrood
February 14, 2001 The best and safest way for fast-speed rail service to roll into downtown Raleigh is to hop onto tracks being used by Norfolk Southern, both a citizen advisory task force and city staff told Raleigh's City Council, the News Observer reports.
Council members listened to
the recommendation from the city’s Passenger Rail Task Force that the proposed
service coming from Richmond, Va., to Raleigh should come into the city through
a path that runs through a stretch of the city’s Five Points neighborhood as it
approaches downtown.
The council took no action
on the recommendation but did set a public hearing Aug. 31 to hear from the
residents, business owners and others who will be affected when the high-speed
train corridor makes its way to Raleigh.
"It’s up to us to take
the information and put it to the citizenry to see what they say," said
Russ Stephenson, an at-large councilor.
Norfolk Southern is
expected to push to have the fast-speed rail go another route, arguing that it
will disrupt the railroad’s operations.
Council members are not the
final decision makers, but they plan to make a recommendation to the state
transportation department after hearing from residents at the Aug. 31 public
meeting.
The Norfolk Southern
corridor largely runs along the western side of Capital Boulevard as the tracks
approach downtown, where Raleigh will build its Union Station, a new
transportation hub that would link rail, bus and other modes of transport in
one central location.
The other option for
high-speed rail is the state-owned tracks CSX Transportation uses that follow
the east side of Capital Boulevard and border the city’s Mordecai neighborhood.
The train service is years
away, but state and federal agencies are making decisions now about which
tracks the new service will use, likely road closures and the need to build
bridges in and around the city.
Norfolk Southern has
lobbied against this option, contending that it will disrupt the railroad’s
freight yard and hurt its customers and residents of the nearby Five Points
neighborhood. Spokesmen for two Norfolk Southern freight customers, Cargill and
Golden State Foods, criticized the proposal at a previous public hearing.
The Norfolk Southern route
would require closing off at-grade crossings at Fairview Road in Raleigh’s Five
Points area and at Jones Street near the Greyhound Bus Station downtown, according
to a report delivered by Eric Lamb, the manager of the transportation services
division for Raleigh’s planning department.
The city might also have to
move Fire Station No. 22, at 9350 Durant Road in North Raleigh, because it
would be too close to the proposed high-speed rail to function as a firehouse,
Lamb said.
