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The Daily Tar Heel

Officials Differ on Merit of Regional Rail

If constructed, the regional rail's 16 stations would connect downtown Durham, Research Triangle Park, Cary and downtown Raleigh in December 2007. North Raleigh would be connected in 2010.

Amanda Arnold, transportation planner for the Triangle Transit Authority, said she is optimistic about the economic impact of the regional rail.

"It can have a lot of good economic development impacts," Arnold said. "I think there will be a lot of new development around the stations."

She also said the rail system would provide a viable transportation option for travelers. "Its going to be a choice a lot of people can make," Arnold said. "At full capacity it can carry as many as a six-lane highway in a much smaller area."

But Patrick Simmons, director of the Rail Division of the N.C. Department of Transportation, said the regional rail system would not help traffic congestion on highways in the Triangle.

"The impact on traffic congestion will be relatively small," he said.

In an environmental impact statement, the Federal Transit Administration stated that traffic would be reduced by less than 1 percent and that extra taxes might be needed to fund the rail system.

Simmons said he does not think new taxes will be required for the regional rail system but that TTA might charge for the service.

Under the proposal, the rail system will be funded by a mixture of federal, state and local funds. To increase funding for the transit plan, the mayors of the Triangle's largest cities -- Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill -- recently joined forces to formulate a plan to present to the N.C. General Assembly.

The mayors decided to modify the original light rail proposal to incorporate plans to improve the Triangle's road system. They agreed that the General Assembly might provide more funding if the plan included money for roads, as well as the rail.

Jamie McGee contributed to this article.
The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.

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