Quote:
Originally Posted by austlar1
IIn terms of cost per mile, I suspect that doing a basic cut and cover light rail tunnel on a street like Guadalupe (or even Congress Ave) would be a lot less complicated and expensive than building a state of the art heavy rail line down Wilshire Blvd. in LA or Second Ave. in NYC. I suspect whatever they are doing in Seattle is likely more complicated than what I envision for Austin. I know it would not be cheap, but I bet it could be done for less than the figures you are suggesting.
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I have been posting real numbers, not imaginary numbers from someone who doesn't have the slightest idea how much tunnels costs.
While it is true "cut and cover" can be cheaper than "deep boring", DART discovered the opposite was true under North Central Expressway. "Cut and cover" expense really depends on what utilities are under that city street. The more utilities there are, the more expensive it gets. Some city streets have far less utilities than others in a downtown district. But generally, downtown streets have far more utilities than streets in residential areas.
Why do most Austin advocates always prefer Guadalupe Street as the preferred corridor, whether at grade, below grade, or above grade? Light rail lines draw passengers from 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from its stations. The rail line can be built within a few blocks of Guadalupe and still service residences and businesses on Guadalupe. The same is true for using Congress Street in downtown Austin too.
I noticed you recommend the possibility of using a public park for the light rail right-of-way, which shows me that you acknowledge what I wrote in the previous paragraph. But, public park land are the hardest, most fought over land for right-of-ways rail lines can go after. Immediately think a decade delay over lawsuits over them. If you really want to build a rail system sooner rather than later, forget using park lands. There have been freeways nixed because of fights over park lands.
The easiest and cheapest lands to acquire for light rail are pre-existing rail corridors - hopefully poorly utilized or abandoned today, city streets, within highway corridors right-of-ways, and other publicly owned land (but not parks).
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