Triangle Transit Association: Boylan Heights Station

TTA Station Decision Comments from the Neighborhood
A compilation of statements from the Boylan Heights Neighborhood

Raleigh Comprehensive Planning Committee Meeting, 
December 12, 2001.  Excerpts relating to the TTA Station Location Issue

Draft Environmental Impact Statement as it relates to Boylan Heights

     Here are two views looking from the Boylan Heights side of the existing Boylan Avenue Bridge toward downtown.  The left side shows the existing view, and the right side shows the view after the train station is built.  The only train station shown is the one that requires a grade level crossing with Boylan Avenue.  The other option that puts the tracks under the bridge and the station at the Shelton's Furniture location is not shown at all in this set of pictures, but is shown as option "C" further down the page. 10/30/2000

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The Triangle Transit Authority [TTA] presented their new plans for the Boylan Heights station that they call the Wye Station as well as a plan proposed by the NC Department of Transportation [DOT].  This report appears below linked to visual materials provided by TTA.

	Resolution of the Boylan Heights Association Unanimously approved at the Memorial Day Picnic, May 28, 2001,  The Boylan Heights Association fully supports the creation of a regional rail system for the Triangle. The BHA strongly supports Alternate C [Morgan Street Location] as the preferred alternate because of its greater potential to promote positive urban redevelopment and reinvestment around the downtown transit station, and because of its lower potential to impose negative community impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. The BHA will continue to work closely with TTA to enhance positive effects and to avoid, minimize or mitigate negative effects of the rail project.
	Neighborhood Transportation Priorities Approved at March 28, 2000 Meeting. Here are the priorities that we approved.
	Comments on these plans from our readers.  To add your comments to the page please email them to .

    Comments from "Transit Professionals" around the country
    Resources on "Traffic Calming"
    Information on Train Noise Levels
    Transit Oriented Development information from Wisconsin

To add your comments to the page please email them to .

TTA's revised Wye Station plans contained significant improvement over their previous plan. Their current plan has all of the vehicular access to the station via Martin Street from downtown.. This will pretty much eliminate any advantage of driving through the neighborhood to get to the station. We still have a level pedestrian access from Boylan, but while it is great for us, it is much less convenient than driving to the parking deck and not having to walk the block along the tracks. Unfortunately, the plan still has an "at grade" crossing of Boylan Avenue. Perspective Drawing of Wye "A" Station In this plan, the intermodal station would be completely contained either in the wye or south of it between the Amtrak station and the TTA station.
The big surprise is in the DOT plan. DOT's goal is to provide for the long term possibility of high speed intercity rail both north and south as well as east and west. The Wye Station is the intersection between New York and Miami, Charlotte and Willimgton. To site a station for these trains it is necessary to put the platform just west of Boylan Avenue next to the prison so this is where the Amtrak station would be moved. The TTA rail station is located between Hargett and Morgan at the site of Shelton's Furniture Store. Hargett street would be blocked from downtown by the station platform, and access to the station would be from Hargett at Boylan Avenue and Morgan Street. The big advantage to us is that all the tracks would go under the Boylan Avenue Bridge - there would be no at grade crossing.  Perspective Drawing of the Wye "C" Station
The problem is that the logical place for the Intermodal station, read that Greyhound, Trailways and Cat bus station, is between the Amtrak and TTA stations, and that is just NW of the bridge where the Laidlaw bus parking garage is now. This would put Boylan Avenue smack in the middle of this all new improved transportation hub.	The best route to the bus station, the TTA station, and the Amtrak station from the south would be from Western Boulevard along Boylan Avenue, over the bridge. From downtown the best route would be up Cabarrus street to Boylan. With Hargett street closed and Morgan being one way east, you would have to go to Hillsboro street and back to avoid going through Boylan Heights.

 

 

You can see a complete side by side analysis of the pros and cons of the various proposals for the two stations in these reports:

	Boylan Wye
	Government Station.

	This is a second version of TTA's plan for the Wye that has all of its access along Martin Street.
	This is TTA's plan for the Hillsboro Street Station that has its entrance along Hillsboro Street, but lies behind the businesses along Glenwood Avenue.  This station would replace the Wye station
One of the above four choices would be the "Boylan Heights Station"
Station Choices for the Downtown Government Station
	This station would be required if Wye station "A" or "B" were chosen. Perspective Drawing of the Government "A" Station
	This station would be required if Wye station "C" were chosen. Perspective Drawing of the Government "B" Station
	This station works for all of the station options, and is the only one that can be used if the Hillsboro Street Station is chosen.

The following are   files from TTA explaining some of the changes and how they will be evaluating them:

	What are the Changes from last year
	How does TTA evaluate Sites
	Where are the planned stations
	How will the stations Work
	What will the stations Include

Other sites to check out are:
Triangle Transit Authority web
The News and Observer Articles