RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
The Dispatch wrote
City OKs streetcar study
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
By Robert Vitale
Columbus will continue to study streetcars, but consultants also will begin examining how the 2.8-mile line envisioned by Mayor Michael B. Coleman could become part of a regional rail system.
City Council members gave their OK last night to a $300,000 contract extension for streetcar consultant HDR Inc., which already has been asked to revamp the financing plan for Coleman’s $103 million proposal.
Supporters said HDR will look as well at how streetcars would coexist with buses along the proposed High Street route and how they would fit into commuter-rail plans that are resurfacing a decade after central Ohio voters rejected the idea.
Comments
- itinerantfoodie: Not one mention of Huntington Park or their sparse advertising. (Seriously
- Liz Samuelson: Why can't they just pay someone to do it versus a contest? I really like t
- RichLauro: Awesome! Good for Justin and best wishes!!
- Liz Samuelson: @jpizzow – Thank you for the compliment, yes lots of potential and lots o
- Taz Devil: Oh, and it should be finished soon considering that they work late into the
Top Stories
- Grandview Yard Seeks Retail Anchors for Next Phase of Development33
- Studio 35 Re-Opening is a Revelation17
- Attn: Columbus Creatives!14
- Philanthropy Friday: Bicentennial Towers 14
- More Downtown Public Artwork Coming to Scioto Mile11
- Liberty Place Adding Over 200 New Apartment Units to The Brewery District11
- Columbus Ranks #22 on List of Best Large Cities for Jobs in 201210
- The Short North's Summer of Construction10
- The Hudson Street Market Renovates, Faces Construction Woes10
- Challenge: Could You Go Five Days Using Alternative Transportation?8
City Council OKs Columbus Streetcar study
By: noozer
Related Posts:
blahblahblah
I though you guys WANTED a streetcar.
Am I starting to see cracks in the ice?
blahblahblahelection year.
Andrew Hall=John Kerry
you cannot be serious :roll:
So, we’ll do a 300k study to say “yeah…this streetcar can connect to a light rail servicing the whole metro area…IF the engineering study says it’s feasible in the first place…but we don’t have one of those”
I dont think I’ve ever disagreed with a single thing you’ve ever said about the streetcar. And I still don’t…….ha, keep the posts coming.
Am I starting to see cracks in the ice?
Just when it looks like things are going your way, you forsake the plan? That’s not what I would expect from some of the “Unofficial Streetcar Supporters”. Shocking developments. I was giving you folks credit for your “quiet advocacy” and now it seems like you’re flip flopping.
I guess that is to be expected, it IS an election year.
Andrew Hall=John Kerry
I am sorry, but the only crack is the stuff you are smoking to draw such a wierd comparison.
I don’t dispute we may be getting value for money from the consultants, but I am not going to consider the initial baby step as cause for celebrating. That sets the bar too low.
Where did I forsake anything or show less than the same support* for the streetcar? I am skeptical of the political process involved and the many means it gives for pols to stop the streetcar while claiming they were for it. I am really skeptical when there is a strong anti-desire for citizen involvement. None of that translates to being against the objective plan nor most likely tinkerings nor the fundamental idea.
* Meaning that I have always felt it was better than no streetcar or infrastructure, but lesser than a light rail and light rail/streetcar combo.
A.
A.
That’s the kicker to me…the opposition to the streetcar as being “not enough”…I mean, COME THE FUCK ON…is there really a single streetcar advocate who wouldn’t rather have so much light rail that it started at their driveway?!?!?!?
This argument to streetcar advocates of “we don’t want that, we want a comprehensive light rail system servicing all of the metro area” is impossible to debate…because SO DO WE!
we just can’t have that right now!
I don’t dispute we may be getting value for money from the consultants, but I am not going to consider the initial baby step as cause for celebrating. That sets the bar too low.
Yes. It really is WAAAAAAAAY too early to start passing out the cigars. This baby still has a loooooooooong way to go.
And yes we intend to continue “raising a stink” in the same way that we have been.
“So…they did it the “right way”…in shorthand, “your way”…as opposed to the previous way, which was “the wrong way” and “not your way”.”
Wow. I just do not see how everybody agreeing on a plan that will ultimately get you what you have been asking for is a bad thing, but I yield to your better judgement on that.
“And yes we intend to continue “raising a stink” in the same way that we have been.”
I have always been concerned about who raises a stink, not that a stink was being raised. We all want the same thing, but I aknowledge that there are different ways to get there. I would hope that a broader range of citizens would be included in the stink raising. Inclusion of some of the lower income neighborhoods would be great for this discussion. These individuals would be impacted positively by a streetcar, but would also be impacted by any use of general funds dollars to fund the project. Diversity in any movement is not a bad thing. So please, raise a stink, but do it in an organized and orderly fashion. You will like the results a whole lot better.
quoted for hilarity…
p.s. Your epidermis is showing.
quoted for hilarity…
p.s. Your epidermis is showing.
LOL! I agree.
Core, let me send you the scope of the study. It appears you’ve misunderstood its intent. It’s the next step in the engineering and analysis that was planned all along.
quoted for hilarity…
p.s. Your epidermis is showing.
LOL! I agree.
Just so I’m clear…
You advise the C/U supporters of the streetcar to remain in a holding pattern and “not raise a stink”…
but think it would be great if poor folk would start speaking out in number about how they feel about the streetcar and “raising their own stink”…
I am getting that correctly, no?
Yeah, that whole black clergy thing is just a whacked out conspiracy theory, huh…
puhlease.
I have always been concerned about who raises a stink, not that a stink was being raised. We all want the same thing, but I aknowledge that there are different ways to get there. I would hope that a broader range of citizens would be included in the stink raising. Inclusion of some of the lower income neighborhoods would be great for this discussion. These individuals would be impacted positively by a streetcar, but would also be impacted by any use of general funds dollars to fund the project. Diversity in any movement is not a bad thing. So please, raise a stink, but do it in an organized and orderly fashion. You will like the results a whole lot better.
How DARE you presume upon the income, background, or the diversity of neighborhoods represented by this community?
edit: seriously. how DARE you
You know, 40 million bucks just isn’t enough to devote to imaginary rec centers. Who needs a streetcar or beginning of light rail when we can have imaginary pools and swingsets.
I’m going shopping for a Hummer this weekend, looking for a new apartment in Plains City, and plan to still take Bugsy to Schiller Park every day.
I agree, though I was never on board in the first place.
Also, if we had a Central Ohio light-rail system built, it does no one in the core neighborhoods any good. I mean, say there were stops all the way from Plain City to Downtown, and I take a train out there. I’d have to walk five miles on the shoulder to get anywhere of interest.
Such a system encourages and rewards sprawl. I say, if they want to enjoy Downtown attractions, they should live closer to them.
I do, however, support 3C rail. I’d love to be able to drink a few bourbons en route home to Cleveland.
Wow. I just do not see how everybody agreeing on a plan that will ultimately get you what you have been asking for is a bad thing, but I yield to your better judgement on that.
I wish I shared your certainty in that ultimate end. From your perspective or from the selling point you wish to make, it might be a slamdunk. Some of us have been around long enough not to be enthused by promises with no teeth and no consequences for failure of delivery.
I have always been concerned about who raises a stink, not that a stink was being raised. We all want the same thing, but I aknowledge that there are different ways to get there. I would hope that a broader range of citizens would be included in the stink raising. Inclusion of some of the lower income neighborhoods would be great for this discussion. These individuals would be impacted positively by a streetcar, but would also be impacted by any use of general funds dollars to fund the project.
I agree. Really. What you are saying is mirrored in people I talk to in our office who come from all over.
I wish there were a proposal on the table which included greater benefits for the E-W axis of Columbus and further S. My understanding (and guess) is that this would require a level of Federal and State involvement that was not a reasonable expectation at the time the proposal was put forth.
A.
Failure of City Council to support streetcar-design funding is the media’s fault now?
Sorry, but the streetcar coverage has been fair nearly across the board. It’s not any news outlet’s fault that a majority of Franklin County thinks streetcars are a bad idea.
Coverage of other alternative-transportation issues is another story…
I’m with John. Personally, I’m not a big fan of popcorn. Anyone got any nachos?
Dude, I would love some nachos right now. With lots of cheese and ‘penos.
I ask again: Why can’t Columbus be known throughout the country as the city with the best bus system ever? Why can’t that be our claim to fame? The way our city is set up, that makes so much more sense.
Mmmm…nachos….
(I think half of my comments involve food and “mmm-ing”….mmm….)
I’m going shopping for a Hummer this weekend, looking for a new apartment in Plains City, and plan to still take Bugsy to Schiller Park every day.
I agree, though I was never on board in the first place.
Also, if we had a Central Ohio light-rail system built, it does no one in the core neighborhoods any good. I mean, say there were stops all the way from Plain City to Downtown, and I take a train out there. I’d have to walk five miles on the shoulder to get anywhere of interest.
Such a system encourages and rewards sprawl. I say, if they want to enjoy Downtown attractions, they should live closer to them.
I do, however, support 3C rail. I’d love to be able to drink a few bourbons en route home to Cleveland.
Columbus was designed with sprawl in mind. Just look at 270! Highways that circle a city promote development on the OUTSIDE of the city, not in its downtown.
That being said, I agree. If people want to enjoy downtown life…they shouldn’t be living in the burbs!
And 3C Rail is SO coming…I’m writing an article about it now for my website, should be up within an hour or so…(link below)
We have everything in place — except a train station. Nearly all appropriate land for such a place has been developed. We won’t see one for 10 years.