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October 9, 2007
The Cemeteries Terminal Problem
When the plans for the Canal line were developed, one of the stickiest problems was what to do about the terminus of the line at the head of Canal Street. Two proposals for ending the line were developed. The first was to build an off-street, intermodal terminal at 100-120 City Park Avenue, and the other was a terminal in the neutral ground on Canal, between Bernadotte and St. Patrick Streets. The neutral ground terminal was generally regarded as a bad idea (and still is to this day) because it puts a lot of bus traffic right in front of two schools, Langston Hughes Charter School (using the Marshall Middle buildings) on one side and St. Anthony of Padua on the other. The off-street proposal was RTA's preferred solution, but RTA could not come to an agreement with the Firemen's Benevolent Association, the owners of the property, on a lease.
To keep the Canal project moving, RTA punted, constructing a temporary terminal at the head of Canal:
The inbound and outbound tracks merge to a single stub terminal track. The streetcar in the stub is separated from automobile traffic turning onto Canal Street from City Park Avenue by concrete barriers. To depart for its inbound run, a streetcar waits while a traffic signal stops auto traffic. The operator then pulls the streetcar out of the stub, into the left traffic lane. The streetcar travels a block and a half in the street, then returns to the neutral ground for the remainder of the 4.3 mile run to the river.
From a streetcar operations perspective, there aren't any real problems with this terminal. From a rider/pedestrian safety perspective, it's a nightmare. Disembarking riders must get off in the middle of one of the busiest and most complicated intersections in the city. Some must cross left to the western side of Canal Street (left in the photo) to get buses stopping in front of the cemeteries. Others must cross to the eastern side of Canal to make other bus connections on City Park Avenue.
To illustrate how much of a dangerous situation this is, let's zoom in on the fencing constructed to protect riders:
The idea is that riders disembark behind the fencing, then cross the street. Unfortunately, at least one auto has hit the fence right where riders cross the street. This is just a lawsuit waiting to happen, and it's got to go.
RTA has $10 million left in FTA funds from the original Canal project budget. That money has always been intended to build a decent terminal at the head of Canal Street, but the situation is now even more complicated than when RTA originally put off the decision. We'll examine the possibilities for re-locating the terminal in succeeding entries. One thing is for certain, though--take a look at the photo above again. The existing terminal MUST be re-located.
Posted by YatPundit at October 9, 2007 10:05 AM
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