Charlotte will spend $50 million on a contract just to plan the Silver Line light rail which would have stops in Charlotte and at Charlotte Douglas International between Matthews and Belmont.
The 26-mile Silver Line project is supposed to connect Belmont to Matthews through uptown Charlotte and Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Thing is, no one knows the cost, which could be as much as $4 billion, nor how it would be financed.
PUCKETT
Yet plans for commuter rail between Charlotte and Lake Norman are dead as dead can be, says former Mecklenburg County Commissioner Jim Puckett.
There’s “virtually no chance of rail coming to North Mecklenburg County,” he said, explaining that local rail projects do not have adequate financing to warrant going forward.
Puckett, a long-time critic of the toll lanes on I-77, said the North Line from Charlotte to Lake Norman was “sold” to the public with the assurance of federal and state dollars, along with the half cent transit tax.
North Meck “towns completely rewrote their zoning based on this false promise and we are paying the cost today with overcrowded roads and congestion based on commuter rail as the solution,” Puckett said.
It was all a big lie, said Puckett, who plans to run for his old seat on the county commission.
Meanwhile, the $4 billion cost of the Matthews-Belmont line is just a guess. The real cost of the 26-mile project will not be known until 65 percent of the project is designed, hence the vote on $50 million in planning costs.
Rail is an interesting technology in light of driverless cars and telecommuting.
“Rail is a viable option given the proper factors but with the likely advent of driverless technology I believe the viability going forward becomes less and less,” Puckett said.
Separately, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Georgia DOT recently completed an Environmental Impact Statement study on high-speed rail between Charlotte and Atlanta. Public comments closed in October.
The 280-mile Charlotte-to-Atlanta route would be part of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor, joining other corridor projects and programs within the Atlantic mega-region.
“Anytime high-speed rail service is being considered to serve our region, it is positive. I look forward to more detail,” said Cornelius Mayor Woody Washam, explaining he still has hopes the failed North Line will be revived.
Charlotte to Atlanta rail could be similar to high-speed rail service in Europe and Asia. It’s been a dream for years. Regional high-speed rail again boils down to a funding issue, he said, without a “major redirect of federal road funds.”
