Public hearing set on Five Points trolley

[thelakelander]

Just so there's not any confusion, the trolley would be the ones on rubber wheels, not steel.

Posted: Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Jacksonville Transportation Authority may begin running a trolley between downtown and Five Points.
The authority believes the line could alleviate on-going parking problems in the historic area during mid-day hours.
An open house public comment session on the potential route is scheduled for Dec. 13 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the lower level conference room of the St. Joe’s building, 245 Riverside Ave.
David Hunt

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2007/11/30/public-hearing-set-on-five-points-trolley/

[Lunican]

That certainly makes more sense than any of the current trolley routes.

[Ocklawaha]

This could be the best idea JTA has come up with since they invented the rubber tire and internal combustion engine. THEY DID invent it didn't they? Well, anyway, IF they would lay this route down Park Street, between Union Terminal and 5-Points, allowing for a jog over to Annie Lytle. Built from the get-go to adapt to real streetcar could save the City a cool few million. If streetwork is to be done, launch a contract with the track laid in the street. Seattle did this in their tunnel, YEARS before the return of Light Rail to Seattle. We could do the same thing. Build at todays prices. A streetcar bridge could be tacked on to the side of the Lee-Park Street Viaduct, according to two railroad contractors that went over the site with me.

If this is done wrong, say with BRT in mind, it could be a huge disaster. It COULD shut down Park as a streetcar route, and seal the fate of any future plans. But what if for the sake of argument they REALLY did want to score some points with an uneasy public?

My greatest fear is we will try and follow Roanokes foolish leaders:

But the idea of streetcar buses shuttling people from Reserve Avenue to downtown appears to be a sound proposal that not only fills an anticipated public transportation need, but holds the promise of spurring development along Roanoke's Jefferson Street corridor, affordably.

Moreover, the buses could gauge how much demand there might be for a full-fledged trolley system -- before the city invests any money into that costly notion.

Roanoke City Council on Monday endorsed a plan to purchase four streetcar buses to run between the area near Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and downtown. Passengers would ride for free, with public and private entities shouldering costs, the plan proposes.

Those private entities include downtown businesses. Their willingness to jump aboard will depend on where the proposal ranks on their priority list, and how they believe they can benefit from sharing in operating expenses.

They might find more merit in the suggestion from Councilman Brian Wishneff that the buses would be better used as a solution to downtown parking issues.

One aspect of the proposal that businesses certainly can't dismiss: Its intent is to get people to the downtown area so they can spend their money there.

The streetcar bus proposal doesn't wipe the trolley idea from the table. Its most ardent champion, Councilman Bev Fitzpatrick, likely will make sure it doesn't.

If Roanoke really thinks this "potato chip truck" playing bus-streetcar is going to bring in hordes of tourists, or prove if a REAL streetcar will work, they are completely deluded. This is like running a Greyhound to Atlanta every day to see if a new 737 would work on the route. Apples and oranges. Faux trolleys have a terrible record for packing in the people. Los Angeles has fallen on it's ANGELESS FACE with the "Holly Trolley" to Hollywood. Tuscon, has seen a sometimes operated, volunteer, weekend only, short stretch of real trolley line, beat the socks off it's daily "Faux Trolleys" which frankly go to many more places and connect the States largest University with the club district. Why? Because people are not STUPID! (unless they design transit in Roanoke) and people DO know the difference. Perhaps JTA should give that some consideration before they sink the budget into a superbus that's "Just like rail, only cheaper". Oh I know, that's another issue.

Imagine if JTA did this right. Imagine if they built the whole deal to convert to real streetcar, including the stations and the roadwork. Imagine if they took over Annie Lytle, and set up for a rebuild into a bus-trolley TOD station with future Skyway... IMAGINE we all lived in the Emerald City and JTA was the Wizard. Oh Toto, I think we'd all be American by birth, and Jacksonvillin's by the grace of God!

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

Here are the routes from an article we ran back in June.











Park Street

[Ocklawaha]

As you can see, unless they block it with something stupid, this would be an easy change to make.

Ocklawaha