A Streetcar They Desire
Announcement could come this month on federal grant to fund transit project

By Phillip Broome

City planners and developers are anxiously waiting to hear if they will receive a federal grant that would kick the much-talked-about Charlotte Streetcar Project into high gear.

The proposed $25-million grant (applied for in February) would be used to help fund the projected streetcar line that will run 10 miles along Beatties Ford Road near I-85 through Uptown Charlotte along Trade Street, then travel up Elizabeth Avenue by Central Piedmont Community College, and out Central Avenue to Eastland Mall.

The grant – scheduled to be awarded later this month -- will allow the City to build the first 1-1/2 miles of the route. This segment -- identified as the most feasible to complete in a timely manner -- would run down Trade Street starting near Time Warner Cable Arena to Elizabeth Avenue, where the track has already been laid, to just beyond Presbyterian Hospital.

Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) held its first public meeting in 2004 to discuss the idea of a streetcar as part of the city’s overall transit plan. Initial interest was favorable, and the department continued its planning process with meetings and presentations over the next two years. When the first leg of the light rail system, the 9.6-mile LYNX Blue Line, began operating to great accolades in November 2007, things seemed on track for the streetcar.

Then an economic recession hit, tax dollars dried up, and enthusiasm for the streetcar waned. However, in June 2009, Charlotte City Council approved a budget that included $8 million to further advance the streetcar design. In November, the City picked up the pace of its design work, a decision that will hopefully soon pay dividends.

In December, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the availability of Exempt Discretionary Program Grants for Urban Circulator Systems. Under this program, the FTA will award select cities grants of up to $25 million for “urban circulator systems such as streetcars and rubber-tire trolley lines to provide a transportation option that connects urban destinations and fosters the redevelopment of urban spaces into walkable mixed-use, high-density environments.”

City leaders felt that had Charlotte written all over it. “This is a great opportunity to get some free governmental cash,” says Peter Zeiler, transit station area development coordinator for the City’s Neighborhood and Business Services department. “This is why we’re doing some of the engineering we’re doing now. You hear the term ‘shovel ready,’ and that’s what this is. We’re one of the few cities in North America that has a streetcar system designed as far along as we do. If we hadn’t taken the move to do that back in November, we wouldn’t be eligible, and we wouldn’t be able to go after these dollars.”

If it gets the grant, the City will have to begin construction within 18 months and have the streetcar operational within another 18-24 months. That’s a rather quick time span and would mean the streetcar would be running much sooner than if the city doesn’t receive federal money.

The City estimates the starter leg will cost $37 million to complete, meaning Charlotte would have to come up with the remaining $12 million. Zeiler says say this could come from existing capital appropriations from various sources, including city debt capacity of $5.5 million and $6.5 million funded from the city’s Pay-As-You-Go capital fund. That fund is supported by a portion of the City’s property, sales and auto tax revenues.

Why does the City think the streetcar project is important?

“From a transit perspective, it links the eastside of the city to the westside of the city,” Zeiler says. “We have to use streetcar technology because we don’t have any existing rail lines that go east-west. All the rail lines that go through the city mostly go north-south, where we can build our standard rail line operations. But to get from the eastside to the westside and to connect the commuter rail coming out of Davidson, to connect the Blue Line coming up from [Interstate] 485 -- and that will go all the way out to the university -- to connect all of those together you need some sort of system that connects all those north-south on an east-west axis. The streetcar enables us to do that.”

After about a three-year hiatus, representatives from various City departments and the design firm have resumed public meetings. During a meeting held at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center on April 22, about 60 members of the public came to hear updates on the project and to see renderings of the shelters at the stops.

“People are very excited about this,” Zeiler says. “They’re excited now to see the progress we’ve made.”

He says the hospitality industry has reasons to be excited about the streetcar project as well.

“Streetcars are really great for helping develop and grow a better hospitality industry in a city. The problem with a tourist from another city trying to get on a bus is sometimes one bus stop will have eight or nine buses that stop at it. You’re not sure if you’re getting on the right bus, and it becomes too confusing. So you either do one of two things: you either don’t go anywhere or you spend a lot of money on a taxicab to take you to that one place and back. And you don’t get to see everything that’s in the middle.

“Now, people will be able to walk the way it happens in Portland, Seattle and other places that have done similar streetcars,” Zeiler adds. “You come out of your hotel, you walk right onto the streetcar, and it takes you two, three, four neighborhoods out from where you would normally walk to so you can see all those neighborhoods. It really expands your domain within the city that you can go explore, play, and see.”

For more information, visit www.charlottefuture.com.