Keep this little window what CATS plans for the Northeast line handy. City council will be asked to sink millions into Northeast rail cars from transit tax campaign contributor Siemens early next year, before there is any sign that the feds will help pay for the $750 million project.
Siemens gave $50,000 to the Save the Tax campaign. The company is now dangling an option to purchase rail cars at $3.5 million each in front of the city, instead of the normal price of $4 million each. To recap, Siemens got $52.5 million for the South line cars and now wants a deal to get $56 million for NE line cars. The city hesitates or questions, the purchase price jumps to $64 million. What a transparent stunt, but the city has fallen for it repeatedly in the past — in for a penny, in for pound.
That option, I believe, will be the hook that will eventually lead to a locally-funded extension of the South line into the Belmont neighborhood and on to NoDa. Belmont has been prepped for TIF-able re-development for several years now and that is exactly how such a light rail project would have to be funded.
Pulling a completely made-up number out of thin air, I bet CATS will claim it can do the first six stations of the Northeast line — up to Eastway, about six miles — for $250 million, maybe less. That would still open up a ton of land to transit-oriented re-development and rope in a couple park-and-ride stations for the system.
The heavy-lifting extending the line down the middle of Tryon would be left to a later date, possibly with the explicit help of UNCC helping to fund the project. And maybe by then UNCC won’t be primarily a commuter school for whom a light rail run from Uptown makes no sense.
Big picture, however, remains that those vested in train-building are going to ask for more your money very soon and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
