(The following story by Bruce Siceloff appeared on the News Observer website on August 31, 2010.)
RALEIGH, N.C. — Speakers at a packed public hearing Tuesday night criticized the state Department of Transportation’s ideas for routing high-speed passenger trains through downtown, and they urged the City Council to call for more study.
The podium was dominated by Five Points neighborhood residents who attacked a proposal favored by city planners and a citizen task force to send the trains through a Norfolk Southern freight yard on the west side of Capital Boulevard.
“Many better-suited options are available and should be explored,” said Rick Baker, speaking for residents of the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood south of Five Points. “There are too many unknowns and unanswered questions to make a decision that will affect the city of Raleigh for 100 years.”
Some critics proposed a new route they said would avoid the problems caused by DOT’s alternatives, but a DOT analysis said that idea wouldn’t work, either.
North Carolina and Virginia are proposing to build a 162-mile track that would carry passenger trains as fast as 110 mph from Raleigh to Richmond, Va. The new line would cut 35 miles off the current route and reduce travel times by two hours between the two cities – and on to cities in the Northeast.
Residents in towns up and down the line have criticized DOT proposals to close some rail crossings and turn others into bridges in order to eliminate chances for people to walk or drive onto the tracks in front of trains.
The most hotly contested section of the route is in downtown Raleigh.
The other option would route trains along Capital’s east side, through a CSX freight yard. A website for the Mordecai neighborhood near the CSX tracks has posted notices urging residents to endorse the Norfolk Southern-Five Points route, but a Mordecai spokesman stopped short of that when he stood before City Council members.
Shane Trahan, speaking for the Mordecai Citizens Advisory Council, expressed sympathy for Five Points residents and said his neighbors shared their concerns about train noise and vibration.
“We have somewhat similar concerns and feel like the same issues should be addressed on our side of Capital Boulevard,” Trahan said.
The CSX route proposal would close Harrington and West streets downtown, and that provision brought criticism from residents of the West at North condominium tower.