CFE 111201 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

ws & Observer(Print Friendly) : http : //www . . . news/triangle/Story/832092p - 821552c . html http : //cgi . newsobserver. com/standuig/help/tools/_scripts/friendly-print . egi 16 The Triangle is competing for a limited pool of transit funds against about 200 other communities , including many larger cities such as Chicago , Houston and , closer to home , Charlotte . Only 10 percent will receive money . Part of the application means proving that TTA and the state will pay their fair share . This year' s state budget included at least $ 30 million for Triangle transit in the next three years , and Ritchey expects more will be appropriated after 2004 . To pay its share , the TTA expects to bring in $ 75 million in taxes on rental cars and borrow another $ 100 million . That money would be repaid in part by rail fares , which have not been set . Rail boosters say they are confident in their odds of winning more federal funding . North Carolina ' s congressional delegation has offered strong support , Ritchey said . Of the communities that have asked for money , the Federal Transit Administration has ranked only a few dozen communities as " highly recommended " or " recommended . " The TTA project is " recommended . " And the federal government already has sent nearly $ 39 million to the Triangle for research and right- of-way acquisition . But anything could happen , Willis warned . " We are competing against other cities , and we better have our act together or we ' re going to get nothing , " she said . Closer to home , trustees say they' re trying to weigh arguments on many of the more controversial station locations . Many residents in Raleigh ' s Boylan Heights are unhappy with a proposal to put the downtown station at the railroad y" at Martin Street and Boylan Avenue . Derrick G . Weaver said he doesn ' t want the noi " se or visual obstruction of a train so near a historic neighborhood . Instead , Weaver and others suggest pushing the station a block north to another proposed site between Morgan and Hargett streets . That option costs more money , though , because of the track configuration . Trustees have heard worries from Morrisville leaders about whether a station there would bring noise and air pollution . At Durham ' s Alston Avenue site , residents also are debating the best location . Willie Jones , who is leading a federally funded redevelopment of the Few Gardens public housing project , said he wants to see a station with good street frontage on Alston . But one possibility was ruled out because it would displace a new BP service station . Another , still being considered , would mean razing a low- income apartment complex north of the tracks , Jones said . "When you start taking away low- income housing , you have legitimate public policy problems , " he said . " I understand the concerns . " Staff writer Barbara Barrett can be reached at 956 -2433 or bbarrett6dnewsobserver . com BACK © Copyright 2000 , The News & Observer. All material found on newsobserver . com is copyrighted The News & Observer and associated news services . No material may be reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The News & Observer . ) f 2 10/30/2001 2 : 38 PM