Transit plans shift to the fast track
By Mark Washburn–Transit improvements are accelerating for Lake Norman even before the first payout of the 1-cent road and rail tax approved last year.
In the March Newsmakers Breakfast organized by Cornelius Today at The Peninsula Club, residents learned that Red Line trains could be running from uptown Charlotte to Cornelius in as few as eight years.
Money will also be on the way for roads and buses. Tax collections begin July 1 and the first disbursement is expected in October.
“We need better roads and less congestion in our town,” said Bob Menzel, who represents Cornelius on the Metropolitan Public Transit Authority, a new agency focused on the region’s mobility.
Also speaking was Brent Cagle, former Charlotte Douglas International Airport director and interim CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System.
Cagle, who moved to Huntersville in 2012 from Phoenix, said he never thought the Red Line would happen because Norfolk Southern Railway steadfastly refused to sell or share its little-used freight railbed between Charlotte and Lake Norman.
Then, the railroad reversed course and in 2024 the city of Charlotte bought 25 miles of the line to the Iredell County border for $74 million plus $15 million for the uptown platform at the Gateway Station.
“That changed everything,” Cagle said. “That jarred everything loose.”
Charlotte will transfer the rail line to the transit authority along with CATS. Iredell County and Mooresville have not decided whether they will invest in continuing the Red Line north of Davidson.
Under the transit tax legislation, the Red Line must be the first rail project to see construction and must be 50 percent complete before competing projects, like the Blue Line or Silver Line light rail, can get a share of the money.
Preliminary design work for the Red Line is already 30 percent complete, and planners are getting ready to do the environmental impact analysis, which may take as little as two years, Cagle said.
Then the Metropolitan Public Transit Authority will seek federal money for the project, followed by construction.
Planners in Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson are already working on station locations.
Cornelius expects its station to be in the Antiquity area along N.C. 115. Davidson has acquired land at Main Street and Griffin Street. Huntersville is considering stops at Hambright Road, downtown Huntersville and in a new mixed-use development north of Sam Furr Road.
There are 86 grade crossings along the Red Line route, some of which will need to be upgraded or eliminated.
Bus and Micro transit
Cagle said that two main complaints about CATS’ new Micro transit system – an Uber-like ride-sharing service being tested in North Mecklenburg – is that the pickup zone, largely along the I-77 and N.C. 115 corridor, is too narrow and riders endure delays during rush hour.
Bigger vans and more of them might be the solution to the rush-hour demand, Cagle said. CATS aims to pick up passengers within 30 minutes of being summoned, he said.
But he said that studies of other transit systems offering similar on-demand rides showed that service zones lose reliability if they are too diffuse.
CATS Micro started serving Lake Norman with seven vehicles and now uses nine. Ridership continues to increase, he said, and exceeds that of the old Village Rider bus service.
There is still strong demand in North Mecklenburg for express routes to downtown Charlotte, Cagle said. There is consideration being given to adding midday routes for those who work half-days and for starting special event routes for concerts, Panthers games or soccer events.
“We call it the Beyonce Effect,” he said. “Demand skyrocketed when Beyonce performed here.”
Menzel said a key to easing transportation congestion is integrating all functions – roads, Micro, bus and rail into one efficient system.
“We’re trying to build a mobility network,” he said.
Photos by Jason Benavides
Whatever they project the cost will be in this fantasy it will be a lie.