Tagged: Streetcar

Transportation is a big issue in Charlotte - so is funding it. Officials are exploring financing options for the really big, really expensive 2030 Transit Plan. As a result of the recession, there is a $3 billion gap in funding for the long-term plan that has left some, like Charlotte City Council member David Howard to claim "if we don’t do something different, this 2030 or 2035 Plan is going to be more like a 2080 Plan." He is Committee Co-Chair, along with Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain of a 30-member transit funding working group formed at the behest of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx (who has been nominated as Transportation Secretary) to explore possible options to help fund $4 billion worth of projects. They join us to share their findings. The future and funding challenges of Charlotte's transit plan, when Charlotte Talks.

At just a few weeks into his tenure as city manager, Ron Carlee has no shortage of city issues to occupy him. There's the airport governance study and his take on the results… and then there's the city budget, which he just presented last week. The streetcar has been making news for some time, but this week, city council made time to discuss its future during their meeting. We'll talk with Ron Carlee about the most important city issues he's dealing with as he hits the ground running, when Charlotte Talks.

The future of the streetcar in Charlotte depends on the city's ability to get more federal funding, says City Manager Ron Carlee. To be precise, Carlee proposes Charlotte pursue a grant for half the $126 million price tag to undertake the next 2.5 mile stretch of streetcar extending to the east and west of Uptown. 

The city council's reaction to the proposal was tepid.

  Once again, the Charlotte City Council is talking streetcars. It's a topic that has dominated even those meetings when it wasn't on the council's agenda.  Monday night it actually is.