Our first fall fundraiser will be on September 19. We’ll be roasting a local, sustainably raised hog provided by our friends at Rainbow Meadow Farms. We’ll also have artisan buns from Durham, local beer from Raleigh and Locopops! All proceeds will go to paying our freelance reporters. The pig pickin’ will feature live bluegrass and folk music, and will be followed by a benefit show across the street at Slim’s Downtown Distillery.

What:      RPR Pig Pickin’ Fundraiser
When:   Sunday, September 19, 2010
Food from 4 – 7 p.m.
Music starting at 4 p.m.
Where:  Market Plaza, between Fayetteville and Wilmington Streets in Downtown Raleigh (map)

All donations will go to pay our hard working freelance reporters and directly support independent journalism in Raleigh. And you can always donate by clicking that PayPal link at the top right-hand corner of this page.

View Planned sealed corridors in a larger map

City Council members will decide Tuesday where they stand on an early plan to update local rail lines and crossings in advance of high-speed train service from Raleigh to Richmond.

Part of the Federal Railroad Administration’s second-tier draft environmental statement, the plan presents several options for “sealing” the rail corridor in Raleigh, limiting motorist access to the tracks. It would mean separating road from rail – either by closing off streets or building bridges.

“What the NCDOT is pursuing is a fully sealed corridor, and that’s the elimination of all at-grade crossings,” said Eric Lamb, manager of Raleigh’s transportation services division.

The NCDOT originally created the concept of sealed corridors, a mix of techniques to keep motorists off the tracks, to prevent accidents with trains. Additions ranged from median separators to longer gate arms, all meant to “seal” the corridor from violators. After the project began in the 90s, the FRA adopted four-quadrant gates that block all lanes of traffic as the bare minimum requirement for sealed corridors.

But according to Pat Simmons, director of NCDOT’s rail division, that technique is not enough to prevent accidents – especially given plans for the corridor’s increased rail speed.

“We know that the sealed corridors don’t prevent motorists from getting onto the tracks, so that colors our approach,” Simmons said. “The only way to do that is not to allow cars and trucks and people in the same physical space as trains.”

The Plan

The plan the City Council will consider at a special meeting Tuesday night has two big options, both focusing on the corridor from Wake Forest to the junction near Boylan Avenue in Raleigh.

From Wake Forest to Whitaker Mill Road, all three plans are the same and call for the construction of overpasses on Durant Road, Gresham Lake Road, Millbrook Road, New Hope Church Road and Whitaker Mill. They also call for the closure of Wolfpack Lane where it crosses the railway near Atlantic Avenue.

South of Whitaker Mill, the options diverge into two main alternatives: NC1/NC2 and NC3.

The first option would close West Street and Harrington Street at the rail crossings, while a new pedestrian underpass would allow foot traffic through Harrington. A Jones Street overpass would carry traffic over the rail crossing, Glenwood Avenue and West Street, forcing another closure of Harrington.

The other option, NC3, would close the crossing at Jones Street, splitting the road in two. Lamb said although the street is traveled heavily by pedestrians, there’s enough redundancy in downtown Raleigh’s street grid to avoid problems.

“We certainly don’t think it will be an impact to car traffic,” he said. “They’re only forced to go one block away.”

Despite that redundancy, city planners have recommended the construction of a pedestrian overpass over Jones, another connecting the nearby parking deck to Glenwood Avenue and streetscape improvements along West and North streets.

NC3 would also close the rail crossing at Fairview Road, which Lamb said has a relatively low traffic volume. In fact, he said Norfolk Southern blocks the crossing to build its train sets so often the fire department doesn’t use the road anymore.

Both options also call for a Hargett Street bridge starting at Boylan Avenue, spanning the rail lines and West Street and forcing the closure of Harrington before reconnecting with Dawson Street. This could create issues for a possible multimodal transit station in the area.

“It’s problematic for the city relative to the city plans for Union station, planned for West and Hargett,” Lamb said. “There are some inconsistencies, and that’s what we’re trying to work through now.”

Both city planners and the Passenger Rail Task Force, an 11-member advisory committee appointed by the City Council, endorsed NC3. In its letter to the council in early August, the committee acknowledged NC3 would be the more expensive option of the two, at about $90 million.

Unfunded

Construction on the Raleigh to Richmond line, which is not yet funded, isn’t slated to begin until 2014, with service expected by 2018.

Lamb said the project does have potential to attract money from outside the state, since sealed corridors allow trains to move at higher speeds and greater efficiency.

“DOT is attempting to position itself aggressively for federal rail funding,” he said.

Even so, Simmons acknowledges there’s no guarantee.

“We took a risk, because the Federal Railroad Administration has not provided funding for bridges,” he said.

Lamb said separating road from rail may pay off if future plans for southern rail corridors call for more robust commuter rail networks, like the all-electric Acela line in the northeast.

“If there’s a consideration to electrify, it would have to be separated,” Lamb said. “DOT is being somewhat proactive.”

And given North Carolina’s rapid growth, Simmons said careful planning is necessary – even if it’s difficult.

“If we’re good at it, if we’re successful, it will provide not just for today, but for future generation and future economic growth,” Simmons said.

After the city council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m., residents can still provide feedback on the plans online. The NCDOT recently extended the deadline for public comment to Sept. 10.

“This is something that needs the critical examination of the public, elected leaders and our designers,” Simmons said. “We all own the outcome.”

Maybe he should have. At exactly 11:50 a.m. the train began to move, and one poor soul was late, trying to run up to the train as though he were on a movie set and might actually leap up and grab the handles to pull himself in.

Those romantic ideas, as well as the conductor’s famous cry, are inaccurate. Luckily, most of the other nostalgic ideals one might attach to a train ride are actually true.

All aboard at the Raleigh Amtrak station. Photo by Leo Suarez.

There’s nothing quite like riding a train, and around the world people use them to get from place to place. America, it seems, does not share my love for this travel. We’ve got more practical ways to get around. The trip isn’t faster than a car. At $50 for a round-trip ticket to Charlotte for an adult and $25 for a child, the three-hour ride isn’t even cheaper.

But the federal government is planning to install high-speed rail that will run from D.C. to Charlotte, so faster will soon be possible. Meanwhile, Amtrak is ramping up its trips within North Carolina and added a new mid-day route two months ago.

And more people are riding. As reported by the Triangle Business Journal, (link: http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/08/02/daily18.html) ridership on trains between North Carolina’s two largest cities climbed from 5,258 in June 2009, to 15,426 in June 2010. Amtrak says that’s due to the new mid-day route.

Ridership is also up overall: For the period of October through June, ridership overall jumped 26 percent, with 65,956 people riding the rails so far this year compared to 52,347 during the same period a year ago.

All Aboard

I set out this past weekend to investigate the experience of riding from Raleigh to Charlotte.  My boyfriend and I bought the tickets online in advance, something I recommend. The two-car train was sold out on our return trip from Charlotte to Raleigh and not all of those who walked up to the window were able to get a ticket.

We live downtown, so we walked to the small station on Cabarrus Street. If you’re driving, parking is free. But there’s not much of it, so get there early. We stood in line to get our pre-ordered tickets, surrounded by a surprising number of people. The tiny train station could barely hold us all.  In 2009, Raleigh had the state’s busiest train station, with more than 141,000 people passing through its doors. Charlotte counted more than 134,000 that year.

After we got our tickets, we were ready. I didn’t have to wonder if I packed sunscreen in the wrong bag, to be confiscated after a trip through the X-ray machine. I kept my shoes and belt on at all times. And I didn’t have to pay to check my bag.

The train whistle alerted us to its arrival long before we could see it. One kid sat on his dad’s shoulders to watch the train snake around the curve. Not everyone likes the sound of train horns, but to me, it sounds like excitement and adventure – a new trip begun.

Riding the Rails

There are two trains running through the Tar Heel state: the Piedmont and the Carolinian. If you’re Charlotte-bound, you’ll probably be on the Piedmont, which had two passenger cars and one lounge car.

Once parked, everyone lined up and the train staff grabbed a portable metal stair so that we could reach the train step. (Note to Amtrak and Raleigh: train station upgrades should include platforms level with the train step.)

We climbed aboard, stepping into the car on the right, the Honeybee, as directed by the train staff. Those taking the trip all the way to Charlotte are put in one car, while other passengers are put in the second car.

The first surprise was just how large the seat area is. It felt like the exit row of a plane. I could stretch out my 5-foot-8 frame comfortably. My 6-foot-1 boyfriend also had no trouble. There was an enormous amount of room for overhead storage, and it didn’t have the sardine-can feeling that small jets impart. Unless you’re in a van or luxury vehicle, even a car isn’t this comfortable.

The large windows afforded a spectacular view of downtown Raleigh, and there were even two electrical outlets to plug in laptop and cell phone. Best of all, when using the drop-down tray to eat, I didn’t have to squeeze my elbows in to avoid the person next to me.

The train left on time, whooshing through to Cary in a quick 10 minutes. We stopped for two minutes and were on our way, hitting each of the seven stops toward Charlotte on time. One of the inefficiencies of train travel is the stopping, but aside from Raleigh and Charlotte, each stop lasted for only one or two minutes.
Of course, trains aren’t always on time. Amtrak shares lines with freight, which means that if a freight train is ahead of your passenger train, there’s not much you can do about it but sit there and wait. According to Amtrak’s figures, 80 percent of trains running in 2009 were on time.

Riding from Raleigh to Charlotte on the new midday train. Photo by Leo Suarez.

Luckily, our train to Charlotte suffered no freight waiting. Instead, the train clicked and clacked along the tracks in a rocking motion, speeding toward our destination. Some might find the train’s movements nauseating or irritating. I find it soothing, and on the trip home, half of the passengers were asleep, blankets pulled up, heads leaning against windows.

Apparently, I’m not the only one with a sense of train romance. At more than one stop, a family member watched their loved one get on the train, and waved to them through the window as the train departed. Sadly, that luxury is long gone from security-tightened airport gates.

Like a plane, snacks are hard to come by. Sometime after noon, my stomach was rumbling. I ventured up to the lounge car at the front, which offered vending machines, free coffee and free mini bottles of water. I took some water, but I had no cash for a junk food meal. (The Carolinian boasts a café car.) On the return trip, we wisened up, packing sandwiches to eat for dinner.

I spent half of the trip staring out the huge windows. From a car on the Interstate, all you see is concrete and truck stops. The behind-the-scenes feeling of the train car view feels like a trip through real America: glimpses of farmhouses, tobacco, fields and gravel roads. Each city stop gave us a chance to check out downtowns that you can’t see from Interstate 40 or 85.

I spent the other half of the trip working. I suppose you could get work done as a passenger in either a car or plane. But aside from the space issue, to me, it simply felt more comfortable. I used the tray table and outlet to set up my laptop and write part of this story. I stretched my legs out and leaned the chair back a little without bumping the person behind me. I sent text messages and played with my phone, a no-no while driving or flying. I later used the foot rest to prop up my feet and delve into a novel.

The three hours flew by. We arrived right on time, at 3:02 p.m.

As I stepped off the train, I noticed something. I wasn’t feeling that hangover-fatigue I get from pressure changes while in an airplane. My legs didn’t feel cramped or in need of a stretch as they do after a long car ride. Instead, we stepped out into the sunshine, ready to explore Charlotte.

The Bottom Line

Would I take the train from Raleigh to Charlotte again? Not always. Right now, a car is simply cheaper and faster. But as more people ride, the prices will go down and the number of upgrades will increase, making it a more practical option.

Still, I’m glad I tried it. I think about the small scenes that make up my weekend trip: families waving good-bye on the platform, the sound of the train horn, the feel of the train speeding through fields, the boy on his dad’s shoulders watching the train arrive.

Maybe America is just too practical sometimes with our cheap gas and Interstate travel, our X-ray security lines and air-pressurized cabins. Shouldn’t a trip be flavored with excitement and adventure instead of headaches and cramped legs?

Once in awhile, paying a little extra to use a train to get from point A to point B seems like a good deal. After all, who couldn’t use a little romance with travel?

Maintenance crews are scheduled to begin applying road markings for shared bicycle lanes, called “sharrows,” this week on Northclift Drive if weather permits. The sharrows, slated for the street from Six Forks Road to Beardsley Court, are just one part of a decades-long plan to make the city more bicycle friendly.

“Part of the comprehensive plan is to make Raleigh a greener city,” said Alan Wiggs, a member of the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. “It’s time to turn that corner.”

Although the city’s comprehensive plan stretches out over more than 30 years, Jennifer Baldwin, Raleigh’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, said the city identified a list of 25 bicycle projects to complete over the next few years. She said the city has allocated funding for each of these “low-hanging fruit” from a combination of state, federal and city money – a total of about $1.2 million.

In all, the city has identified 40 miles of roads for the sharrows, which cost about $250 each to apply.

“It really gives a sense of sharing the roadway, which is how it should be,” Baldwin said.

Shared lanes are just a small part of Raleigh’s long-term bicycle plan, especially since sharrows can only be used on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less. Another 400 miles of city roadways are slated for dedicated bike lanes and wider outside lanes. Baldwin said those changes will be phased in gradually as regular maintenance projects cycle through.

“We’re talking about retrofitting 400 miles of traffic lanes,” she said. “That’s a lot of work.”

Raleigh residents like Victor Lytvinenko say it’s a great investment. A cycling enthusiast, he began organizing a bike tour of city art venues to coincide with First Friday about two-and-a-half years ago. The monthly gathering has grown to about 200 members who ride en masse around the city.

“There are so many people that do ride and will ride when it’s safer,” he said. “It just makes sense. It’s the best way to get around town.”

Lytvinenko has also advocated at city council meetings for dedicated bike lanes, securing a temporary one on Hillsborough Street in front of N.C. State. Baldwin expects crews to paint the lanes in the next few months.

“Once they get a few bike lanes down and see results, it will grow more quickly,” Lytvinenko said. “Right now, our city is way behind.”

Baldwin agrees, and said the city has to work hard to catch up to more bicycle-friendly peer cities.

“Raleigh has one of the best greenway systems in the state, and probably the country,” she said. “It’s really important to provide connectivity to those greenways so you can leave your house on your bike and get there.”

But that transition won’t come without challenges.

Wiggs said the hope for the future is “to be up to Portland-style.”

“It’s a little ambitious,” he said.

He points out that the installation of dedicated bike lanes can mean the elimination of on-street parking, which might not be popular with nearby residents.

“That’s the fun the commission’s going to have; there’s going to be some give and take,” Wiggs said. “I’m not sure people are ready for that.”

Although sharrows wouldn’t pose the parking problem, Lytvinenko says the lack of a dedicated lane compromises safety.

“The reality is it needs to be safe for everyone,” he said. “Grandmas need to be able to ride their bikes to the grocery store and ride back with their groceries.”

Even if they aren’t perfect, Lytvinenko said he recognizes sharrows are the only option on some roads. Plus, Wiggs points out the 9-by-3-foot road markings provide a valuable educational tool for drivers and cyclists alike.

“That’s some pretty good-size graffiti,” Wiggs said. “If you’re driving down the street at 35 mph, you’ll see one every five seconds.”

CLARIFICATION: Alan Wiggs’ comment about Raleigh catching up to Portland was clarified to reflect the statement as a general goal, not an official timeline.

The temporary bike lane markings along Hillsborough Street will lead to permanent markings after two to six months. The state Department of Transportation, which maintains the street, agreed to let the city put the bike lanes down Hillsborough but first wanted to test how the lanes would work.

City transportation manager Eric Lamb said he did not know exactly when the temporary markings would go down, but said it would likely be a couple months before cyclists have their own lane on Hillsborough. In the current plan there are no street markings for the the bike lanes, but councilors voted to look into putting signs along the street or painting icons in the bike lanes.

The one change on how the bike lanes will be set up is that there will be one foot between parked cars and the bicycle lane. The original plan had two feet between parked cars and the bike lane. Lamb said the DOT wanted to have an 11-foot travel lane.

Daniels Middle School traffic

For more than two years Daniels Middle School parents and neighbors around the Oberlin Road school have been trying to work out differences about traffic backups behind the school. They now have a solution. It happens to be the same solution that councilors proposed last year, but this time school officials have agreed to the new traffic pattern.

Sanderson Drive and Wake Drive, two residential streets behind Daniels, have been the spot for parents to pull up and drop off their kids. But neighbors complained that the parents cause traffic in the mornings and afternoons on the two small streets, creating a dangerous situation for kids walking in the streets and an annoyance for those trying to get in an out of the neighborhood.

The new solution, same as the old solution, is for parents coming off Glenwood Avenue into the neighborhood to drop off their kids have to go through school property and exit on Oberlin Road instead of turning around and going back out on Glenwood.

When the issue went before council’s Law and Public Safety Committee last week, committee chair Mary Ann Baldwin said, “Nobody’s going to get what they want 100 percent, but that’s the nature of compromise.”

School officials have agreed to the plan this time around, which was the holdup last year. The school will have to put a teacher in the parking lot to direct traffic as it moves through campus.

Councilors will get an update from city staff in September on how the new system is working.

Geothermal grant

The city’s getting another $1.29 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. The grant will cover about half the cost of installing a $2.6 million geothermal heating and cooling system in the Wilders Grove Solid Waste Services Center.

Geothermal systems use water piped deep underground to control temperature in buildings and is more energy efficient than traditional air conditioners and heaters.

Bonds

Council gave final approval Tuesday night to $50 million in limited obligation bonds to build remote operations facilities for the Solid Waste Services Department. The remote operations projects were originally part of the controversial Clarence E. Lightner Public Safety Center, but councilors split the projects off when the public safety center proposal hit a deadlock.

During the meeting Mayor Charles Meeker said the bonds “will allow at least the initial remote ops facilities to go forward.” He also hinted that the Lighner Center debate was not over, saying that passing these bonds did not hurt the city’s chances at building a new public safety center.

Harrison Rue, the consultant with ICF International who prepared the report, told councilors that the emissions inventory included all direct and indirect sources, from electricity used to light city buildings to employee travel.

Rue said the city largest electricity user was water treatment, which accounted for half of the city’s power bill. Raleigh supplies water not just for the city but for towns in the region, including Garner and Knightdale. He applauded the city’s growing use of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles and other measures to reduce emissions.

The full report is below, but here are some of the highlights:

In 2007 the city used:

• 835,346 gallons of gasoline
• 882,315 gallons of diesel
• 444,979 gallons of biodiesel

In 2005, the most recent available data, the city’s electricity came from:

• Coal, 50.46 percent
• Nuclear, 38.74 percent
• Gas, 4.95 percent
• The rest came from hydroelectric, oil and other combustible fuels
• None came from solar or wind

Electricity accounted for more than half of the city’s emissions. From the report: “The City of Raleigh’s buildings, facilities, water and wastewater pumping and treatment plants, and lighting installations consume electricity that is mostly produced through the combustion of fossil fuels. The combustion of these fuels typically yields CO2, and to a lesser extent, N2O and CH4. Although these emissions are generated by power plants outside of the City’s direct control, by creating demand for this electricity, the City is indirectly responsible for these emissions.”

Emissions by department:

• Public utilities, 35 percent
• Solid Waste Services, 28 percent
• Public Works, 15 percent
• Convention Center, 7 percent
• Parks and Recreation, 5 percent
• Downtown shared facilities, 4 percent
• Police, 3 percent
• Fire, 2 percent
• Other, 1 percent

16ASGHGReport

Jim Sughrue of the Raleigh Police Department said they estimate the crowd at the morning march and protest at about 1,000, but Raleigh Public Record estimates put the number at more than 1,500.

Click on any image to see the gallery.

TC-4-10 Floodprone Area Regulations. Amends the City Code to increase restrictions for the development of property located within designated floodplain areas (Floodway Fringe and Future Conditions Flood Hazard Areas) by limiting uses and development to that currently permitted within the floodway area (i.e. parking, agriculture, recreation).

TC-5-10 Stormwater Replacement Fund.  Amends Raleigh City Code sections 10-5006(a)(11)d, 10-5007(c) and 10-9027(b)  to place the requirement for maintenance covenants for stormwater control facilities which serve more than one lot into one City Code section, 10-9027(b).  Repeals in its entirety City Code section 10-9027(c), and its requirement for a three-party stormwater contribution replacement agreement. Repeals section 10-9003(b) in its entirety relating to entities exempted from Part 10 Chapter 9 regulations.

TC-6-10 Tree Conservation Ordinance.  Based on a detailed review of the ordinance by the Tree Conservation Task Force, extensive amendments to the City’s Tree Conservation Ordinance, are proposed. Proposed changes include improvements in the flexibility and effectiveness of tree conservation, and, significant rewrites of Code sections on: pre-development tree protection (Tree disturbing activity except minor tree removal), tree cover requirements, delineation of tree conservation areas, documentation of tree conservation areas, and alternate means of compliance.  Portions of tree conservation areas previously accepted without any trees (i.e. greenways, stream buffers, Conservation Management areas) would require tree planting if established as tree conservation areas.  Tree conservation areas for Metro-Park Overlay District and the Conservation Management District are being clarified.  Incentives for conserving Heritage Trees (Shade Trees 24 dbh and greater) are proposed.

TC-7-10 Cameron Park NCOD. Proposes to amend the Built Environmental Characteristics and Regulations for the Cameron Park neighborhood regarding building height, setbacks for attached garages and vehicular surface areas.