Just run the train up and over the Skyway. The infrasructure is in place. DL&W up Main St., then along Seneca St., up the ramp at Pearl, and over the Skyway on the inbound side. Use the outbound lanes for bicycle / pedestrian access from Delaware Avenue; Niagara Square to the Outer Harbor.
This does not resolve the horrific problem of the Skyway interchange, which detroyed the Canal District, nor the Skyway ramp down to Church Street, which destroyed The Terrace. In addition, the NFTA would say it would rather spend that money on other routes and services.
No, the Metro Rail should not go to a dead-end at the Outer Harbor. After emerging from the DL&W it should next be brought to Larkinville - the first of several incremental steps that will take it through the East Side (serving many care-free residents there with a RAPID transit connection) , Central Terminal, the Walden Galleria, Airport, and a Park & Ride at the I-90 to collect commuters from all over the region who now use the Thruway to get downtown.
Metro Rail would not "dead end" at the Outer Harbor. Funding is in hand for a station and loop at the DL&W to replace the "events" station on Main Street. Since we want to revitalize the historic DL&W train shed, we are all for a station there provided it connects to a pedestrian viaduct over the tracks to Central Wharf, and as we say, to a repurposed path to the Outer Harbor, the Cloudwalk.
All other expansions of Metro Rail, and the transportation and financial rationale for each, can be found in various documents posted online through the NFTA. All in all, bus systems are much cheaper to improve and operate than rail.
I think public transit access to the Outer Harbor will need to be more than just a walk to the park. The only real access is via Ohio St. from Downtown. What the solution is has yet to be defined. But the easiest step is to build a bridge from Ganson St. (still a bit awkward) over the Ship Canal to the Outer Harbor where CSI Sands is located. It's a clumsy solution and add more traffic on Ganson St. which is good for Riverworks but not so much for General Mills.
You are right. Our overall plan includes a new street on the west side of the City Ship Canal on the abandoned rail yard south of CSI Sands, and then over a fixed-span bridge that connnects to Ganson Street at the neck of Kelly Island.
The reason for this is that is the point at which maintenance on the channel ends, and has ended, since about 1940. There would have to be no acquisition of CSI Sands property, nor regulatory changes to the navigation channel, nor an expensive lift bridge at this point.
Someone did foresee a bridge across the canal: a traffic circle spur constructed 10 years ago dead-ends there. That's OK with us, if the cost of acquisition and changing the navigation channel is not held against a crossing at this point.
Just run the train up and over the Skyway. The infrasructure is in place. DL&W up Main St., then along Seneca St., up the ramp at Pearl, and over the Skyway on the inbound side. Use the outbound lanes for bicycle / pedestrian access from Delaware Avenue; Niagara Square to the Outer Harbor.
and keep the elevator to the top.
This does not resolve the horrific problem of the Skyway interchange, which detroyed the Canal District, nor the Skyway ramp down to Church Street, which destroyed The Terrace. In addition, the NFTA would say it would rather spend that money on other routes and services.
No, the Metro Rail should not go to a dead-end at the Outer Harbor. After emerging from the DL&W it should next be brought to Larkinville - the first of several incremental steps that will take it through the East Side (serving many care-free residents there with a RAPID transit connection) , Central Terminal, the Walden Galleria, Airport, and a Park & Ride at the I-90 to collect commuters from all over the region who now use the Thruway to get downtown.
Metro Rail would not "dead end" at the Outer Harbor. Funding is in hand for a station and loop at the DL&W to replace the "events" station on Main Street. Since we want to revitalize the historic DL&W train shed, we are all for a station there provided it connects to a pedestrian viaduct over the tracks to Central Wharf, and as we say, to a repurposed path to the Outer Harbor, the Cloudwalk.
All other expansions of Metro Rail, and the transportation and financial rationale for each, can be found in various documents posted online through the NFTA. All in all, bus systems are much cheaper to improve and operate than rail.
I think public transit access to the Outer Harbor will need to be more than just a walk to the park. The only real access is via Ohio St. from Downtown. What the solution is has yet to be defined. But the easiest step is to build a bridge from Ganson St. (still a bit awkward) over the Ship Canal to the Outer Harbor where CSI Sands is located. It's a clumsy solution and add more traffic on Ganson St. which is good for Riverworks but not so much for General Mills.
https://goo.gl/maps/318WBGxgbNSJSWP77
You are right. Our overall plan includes a new street on the west side of the City Ship Canal on the abandoned rail yard south of CSI Sands, and then over a fixed-span bridge that connnects to Ganson Street at the neck of Kelly Island.
The reason for this is that is the point at which maintenance on the channel ends, and has ended, since about 1940. There would have to be no acquisition of CSI Sands property, nor regulatory changes to the navigation channel, nor an expensive lift bridge at this point.
Someone did foresee a bridge across the canal: a traffic circle spur constructed 10 years ago dead-ends there. That's OK with us, if the cost of acquisition and changing the navigation channel is not held against a crossing at this point.