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D-1 What are the right of way dimensions, including sidewalks, parking bays, bicycle lanes, etc.? |
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10.20.07 Denver U-PLAN Staff
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10.18.07 San Diego Ron Halbritter In virtually every case, the San Diego Light Rail is using the existing railroad right of ways. In a few cases, we ran parallel to the freeway using Free way right of way, and once we ran thru State College property. |
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10.18.07 Portland SLEUTH: U-PLAN Staff MAX uses a combination of right-of-ways including freeway shoulders and medians, paved tracks on city streets, and private right of way. Some sections of track use old trolley lines. In central Portland and Hillsboro, MAX trains run in reserved lanes on surface streets, unlike the Portland Streetcar, which runs in mixed traffic. Outside the central city, MAX runs primarily within its own right-of-way fully separated from traffic |
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10.18.07 Sacramento Mark Bennet For dedicated light rail operating right of way, we use a minimum 40' width as a standard. Sidewalks, boulevards, parking, bike lanes, etc are all governed by the local jurisdiction's transportation departments. We have a variety of operating corridor configurations that include: dedicated operating corridor: varies from 30' (very constrained; less than ideal) to 80' - 100' width and shared roadway vehicle lanes: this is primarily in the Downtown/Midtown areas. LRV's operate as motor vehicles do in striped traffic lanes. |
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D-3 How was station placement determined? |
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10.20.07 Sacramento Mark Bennet The general policy for station placing, since 2006, is: Urban Core-4 blocks, Mid Town-½ mile, Suburban-1 mile and ex-urban-2 miles. Stations must also meet the following criteria of: Constructability (including Safety), Ridership and Density Guideline Considerations (A spreadsheet-based "Station Spacing Analysis Tool" has been developed to evaluate a proposed station site’s ridership potential and/or population and employment density relative to the existing RT stations.), Environmental Justice, Community/Neighborhood Input , Operations Analysis , Incremental Operational and Capital Cost to RT , Local Bus Network Benefits or Cost , Cost Benefit Consideration, and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Potential. The station placement for the starter line was a less consistent, more “political” process. |
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10.20.07 San Diego Ron Halbritter Close to traffic centers and work centers. One station near a Tuna Cannery with 2-3,000 workers and other next to shipyard with 6,000 workers. One station at naval base gates. Stops generally have Large parking lot, special bus lanes, Bicycle lockers, covered waiting areas with benches. Existing railroad yard for past 100 years, stops at natural transit centers and places with high employment or schools. |
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10.18.07 Minneapolis Hiawatha Line U-PLAN Staff Significant amounts of effort has gone into creating artwork for the different rail stations. In the months after the line first started, a number of small audio and video playback devices were installed in the stations, to provide amusement and topics for discussion among travelers waiting for the train.” |
D-4 How were individual stations designed? |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff
Tracks continue into Hillsboro starting at the Washington/SE 12th Avenue station. This side platform station is almost southwestern in theme, featuring mosaic tiled walls and benches. Each tile on the westbound platform wall was designed by members of the community. The station features an uplifting theme of health and healing. This is symbolized by metal doves paved into the platform and plants used in traditional healing. Employees at Tuality Community Hospital, 1 block to the south, frequently use this station. Trains enter the downtown core of Hillsboro, stopping at the Hillsboro Central/SE 3rd Transit Center. This station sits directly on the site of the old Oregon Electric station that once served Hillsboro. History plays an important role in the theme of this station, as it looks just like an old railroad station. Artwork reflects the agricultural past and high tech future of Hillsboro.” –System Overview |
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10.20.07 Ron Halbritter Close to traffic centers and work centers. One station near a Tuna Cannery with 2-3,000 workers and other next to shipyard with 6,000 workers. One station at naval base gates. Stops generally have Large parking lot, special bus lanes, Bicycle lockers, covered waiting areas with benches |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff Each of the 17 stations along the route are designed to have a unique architecture reflecting the neighborhood they stand in. This is not an entirely new idea for the region, as many of the higher-traffic bus stops around the city have distinct designs.” -Wikipedia
“Significant amounts of effort has gone into creating artwork for the different rail stations. In the months after the line first started, a number of small audio and video playback devices were installed in the stations, to provide amusement and topics for discussion among travelers waiting for the train.” -Wikipedia |
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D-5 Is the line a three-car line? If so, what are the implications of having three parallel lines? |
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10.20.07 Mark Bennet “The rail lines are single or double tracked. Some double tracking was added after the original construction and some sections of double tracking are currently in the planning stage.” |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff “Because of Portland's relatively small 200-foot (61 m) downtown blocks, trains operate with only one or two cars. The MAX cars are about 90 feet (27.5 m) long, so a stopped train consisting of more than two cars would block intersections. Blue Line trains are typically two cars long. Trains on the Yellow and Red Line run in both one and two car configurations, though increasingly more Red and Yellow Line trains are two-car.” -Wikipedia All three types of trains are able to run on every section of the system, however consists are limited to a maximum of 2 cars. This is limited because Portland's smaller, 200 foot blocks would not allow a train to use a station without blocking auto traffic on cross streets. –System Overview |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff Two vehicles may be linked together to double capacity in busier periods. If the need ever arises for three-unit trains, some stations are already designed with that capacity, and others were built to be easily expandable to handle the longer trainsets.” |
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D-6 Were stations added after the line was added? |
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10.20.07 Ron Halbritter Dozens. The original line used existing rail tracks from San Diego to Tijuana. About ten miles. Cost was almost nil. It was so successful they added another 40 miles at outrageous cost. |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff Facilitating a circumferential link between the Southeast Corridor and the East Corridor is the I-225 Corridor, a new 10.5-mile (16.8-km) light rail line through Aurora, which will include seven new stations. This line will open in 2015, and is estimated to cost $442.3 million to build. -Wikipedia
Extensions to light rail lines that have already been completed are planned. Extension committed by the FasTracks plan include a 2.5-mile extension to the Southwest Corridor, extending the line to the southwest corner of Lucent Boulevard and C-470, a 2.3-mile extension to the Southeast Corridor into Lone Tree, and a 0.8-mile extension to the Central Corridor to connect the 30th & Downing station with the East Corridor commuter rail line at the intersection of 40th & 40th. -Wikipedia |
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10.20.07 Mark Bennet The Folsom line was extended 3 times following the “starter line” construction, each extension involving new stations. However, no stations were added to existing rail lines. One station (Horn), in a lower density area, was skipped during original construction. It is planned for construction at a later date. Another station (Mineshaft) is planned to be build as a TOD at some future date. A major proposed TOD at the Swanston Station will improve pedestrian and bus access and will probably involve rerouting of several bus routes. |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff “In the upcoming months and years the Hiawatha Line will be extended by a few blocks to the new Minneapolis Multi-Modal Station, at the current end of the line of the Hennepin Ave/Warehouse District Station to meet up with the future Northstar Corridor and will be built right next door to the new Minnesota Twins ballpark.” -Wikipedia |
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D-7 Is there a substantial curve in the line? If so, is noise a problem? |
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10.20.07 U-PLAN Staff “Delay issues are partially due to an unusual problem—the train horns. Residents along the rail corridor had complained that the horns were too loud, so transit officials decided to reduce the volume. However, this forced a reduction in service speed, as the quieter sound couldn't be heard at as great a distance. Some sections that were going to be limited to 55 mph were instead limited to 45 mph.” -Wikipedia |
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