Although its $100 million over budget, another peer Sunbelt community is adding LRT to its list of mobility options.
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QuoteNORFOLK â€" Hampton Roads Transit CEO Philip Shucet officially broke a long-standing silence Tuesday morning in announcing a mid-August opening for Norfolk's embattled light rail line.
Shucet made the announcement at MacArthur Square in downtown Norfolk as empty Tide vehicles that are still being tested pulled in and out of the station periodically. The 7.4 mile long starter line, that is the first of its kind in Virginia, will run from the Eastern Virginia Medical Center through downtown Norfolk to Newtown Road at the Virginia Beach line.
"Light rail in Norfolk will be ready to pick up passengers at 6 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 19," Shucet said. "All of the ongoing drama of the construction of this project will be forgotten the morning of Aug. 19 when people are on the platform using a mode of transportation that wasn't before available."
QuoteThe success of Norfolk's endeavor is expected to play a significant part in determining where â€" if anywhere â€" light rail is extended. The system, whose construction was heavily financed by federal and state money, is projected to cost the city at least $6 million per year to operate, including $3.1 million for light rail and $2.8 million for feeder buses.
For well over a year, HRT has been under heavy fire for the previous administration's mismanagement of the light rail construction process that resulted in an ongoing federal investigation. Shucet was brought in to right the listing transit agency and complete light rail construction after HRT's former CEO Michael Townes was forced out in late 2009.
A study to examine the feasibility of extending the light rail line into Virginia Beach, and perhaps all the way to the oceanfront, was put on hold earlier this year for at least nine months until actual ridership figures from Norfolk are known.
full article: http://www.dailypress.com/news/hampton/dp-nws-light-rail-opening-20110621,0,1521204.story
I'm warming to rail.
I'd still say a straight street car shot from the Prime Osborn to the stadium through the flex space is the least inexpensive way to get the bigger bang for the buck.
In a previous story get all the RR guys together and start laying some track. Hold off on breaking ground on the regional transportation hub. How much money is that? What is being dicussed with the transition team on this?