Triangle Area May Be Linked With Light Rail

Smedes York, co-chairman of the Regional Transport Alliance and a real estate executive and developer, said it is important to have interaction from mayors Charles Meeker of Raleigh, Glen Lang of Cary, William Bell of Durham and Kevin Foy of Chapel Hill.

"If mayors aren't in support, it probably won't happen," he said. "We need the mayors as government leaders to come to an agreement on key issues."

York emphasized that efforts to improve transportation issues are not to develop new plans but to provide current plans with additional funding.

"We need to have enough money to move the project forward. A lot of funding will go far," he said. "This is speeding up the process."

The mayors altered their plan to request funding from the N.C. General Assembly by incorporating road improvements with light rail funding requests. They agreed that the General Assembly would be more supportive if the plans also included money for roads.

The current light rail project connecting downtown Durham, Research Triangle Park, Cary and downtown Raleigh is slated to be completed in December 2007. North Raleigh will be connected in 2010.

York said urban areas suffer greatest in terms of transportation problems.

"The state of North Carolina builds roads, and there is not enough money allocated to urban areas," he said. "We need to add resources for adding funding for roads, to go to the whole system of roads."

Foy said that although Chapel Hill has promoted the light rail, the town's main transportation focus is expanding public transportation and sidewalk networks.

"Chapel Hill is in a different position than other communities," Foy said. "We are focusing on expanding the bus system and bike and pedestrian networks. We are not planning on building new roads."

Foy attributed mayoral interaction on this issue to the magnitude of the project.

"The light rail costs several $100 million," he said. "It is a project that crosses the community. It is not just confined to one town. There is a mutual interest in service provided and making sure the joint tax is spent to benefit all in the Triangle."

Tancred Miller, a coordinator of the the N.C. Sierra Club, said it is important that transportation efforts maintain a balance of priorities. "We have become overdependent on roads," he said. "There should be more of a balance,"

Miller added that the light rail will be a valuable addition to the region.

"We see traffic jams. People want to get rid of that," he said. "More roads don't solve the problems. Traffic jams just follow the new roads. I think if people have a choice they will adapt to the light rail."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.