By Jeff Schwartz, guest opinion writer and founding member of Transport for Nola
Streetcars once served communities throughout New Orleans. Today, for very good reasons, they’re coming back. That’s grounds for celebration, but also for concern that we don’t make some simple mistakes.
This week, the RTA board made an important commitment to invest local funds in new streetcar service downtown and along the Rampart Street/St. Claude Avenue corridor. This new streetcar line will further secure New Orleans’ position as a national leader in multimodal transit options. As the president of the board of Transport for NOLA, a non-profit organization that advocates for progressive transit options, I congratulate the RTA and Veolia for their leadership on this issue.
There is still work to be done, however, to ensure that this investment generates the greatest benefit for New Orleans. Because the North Rampart/St. Claude line is funded completely with local dollars, the city and the RTA have the time and flexibility to do the project right.
Transport for NOLA fully supports plans eventually to extend service along Elysian Fields Avenue, connecting the Riverfront to the 6th and 7th Wards, Gentilly, and UNO, but we should wait until we have funding for the full line, not commit to build it in increments. The phase-one plan to run tracks along Elysian Fields linking the Riverfront line to the new North Rampart/St. Claude line adds over 20% to the project cost while introducing few if any new riders to the system. The residents and visitors served by the spur are already within walking distance of the major lines. Worse yet, the Elysian Fields segment will reduce the frequency of service on the North Rampart/St. Claude line; every third or fourth streetcar will turn down Elysian Fields rather than continuing on to the Press Street terminus.
The savings from not building the Elysian Fields segment can be applied to important future extensions that RTA Chairwoman Barbara Major has said she favors. The most important of these would be the Howard Avenue connection between the St. Charles and Loyola avenue lines and the extension of the St. Claude line to Poland Avenue. These small extensions, connecting new to existing lines, would also introduce new ridership. This is critical to improving service for both visitors and residents dependent on streetcars as their basic transportation. They are essential to maximizing this new RTA investment in terms of economic development and the quality of life in the city and its neighborhoods.
In addition to reprioritizing their current investment, the RTA should tweak its proposed designs, above all by placing the streetcar tracks on the Rampart/St. Claude neutral ground. This will require widening that median, but the additional costs are well worth the investment. Placing transit in a separate right-of-way that does not interact with auto traffic will dramatically increase the efficiency and timeliness of the streetcar line. That’s critical to creating high levels of ridership and promoting investment along the corridor. It also will afford the City the opportunity to place bike lanes and wheelchair ramps along the entire route, measures that will generally enhance the pedestrian-friendliness of this burgeoning commercial and arts corridor. The neutral ground is the historically authentic route for streetcar tracks through this part of New Orleans, a tremendous asset that should be exploited for public benefit.
As the RTA finalizes plans for the new streetcar lines, Transport for NOLA encourages the city to create a long-term transit plan for the Greater New Orleans region. The success of the RTA in securing both federal and local funding for the expansion of the system hinged in large part on plans that were developed over the past two decades. Without them, the current momentum toward financing and implementing an exciting new chapter in the city’s transportation history would have been severely undercut. To continue our success in applying for federal funds and to assure the proper stewardship of local investments, it’s time for the RTA, the Regional Planning Commission, and the City of New Orleans to create an even broader vision for reviving rail-based service within and beyond parish lines.
Hear, Hear!
“The phase-one plan to run tracks along Elysian Fields linking the Riverfront line to the new North Rampart/St. Claude line adds over 20% to the project cost while introducing few if any new riders to the system.”
I’m not sure about that. The walk down Elysian Fields is simply too far; people either coming or going from the riverfront are going to be left out if you simply run this along North Rampart and St. Claude. Also, we really need to start connecting these lines. It would be great to be able to get all the way to the foot of Elysian from Uptown with only one transfer.
“Placing transit in a separate right-of-way that does not interact with auto traffic will dramatically increase the efficiency and timeliness of the streetcar line.”
I agree. Also, I know you’re all about transit, but it’s well worth mentioning that this will help traffic. Buses gum up the right lane; streetcars in traffic would be even worse since they don’t stop as quickly. Overall, it would be better for both motorists and transit riders to keep them separate.
Let’s not forget that the spur from St. Claude to the river via Elysian Fields will take advantage of the already developed entertainment district on Frenchman Street. Moving people into and out of that area without increasing traffic and/or DUI will appeal to certain stakeholders whose approval you need to make this happen in the first place.
The line can (and should) be extended to Poland, but they aren’t extending this line wholly to serve the burgeouning community along St. Claude. Tourism still drives decisions in this town, and a spur from St. Claude to the river takes that into account.
I agree with Cousin Pat from Georgia, the Elysian Fields connection with the Riverfront would be a boon for tourism. Mark this Desire, even tho it would not even come close to Desire St. and the tourist would eat it up. It would actually pass where Blanche went in the movie, Elysian Fields and Royal, so one could retrace Blanche’s steps. Next we need special older cars (there are three available) just for tourists with volunteer guides (I volunteer!) for the French Quarter Loop. This was shot down on Canal because the stops are not handicapped accessible, the cars are, but the new line could be.
Can’t wait for all this to take place.
Great point with respect to the Elysian Fields spur, Jeff. Most potential riders on Frenchmen will be able to make the short walk through the neighborhood to Rampart/St. Claude from the music venues.
I’ll note at this point that any plan that widens or otherwise alters the neutral ground between Armstrong Park and the Quarter on Rampart will need to consider the impact of removing or moving all of the lampposts with their elaborate bases which depict things like the various historical periods, such as “Confederate Domination”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2517469764/
The 1938 Works Progress City Guide refers to the lamp posts.
Campanella’s “New Orleans then and now” also notes on p. 155 that the N. Rampart neutral ground was reduced in size in the past, which required the lamp posts to be consolidated in the skinny neutral ground that remained:
http://books.google.com/books?id=prIC58YyzikC&lpg=PA155&dq=rampart%20street%20neutral%20ground%20lamp%20posts&pg=PA155#v=onepage&q&f=false
The photos on p. 154 are quite amazing – as they show a double streetcar line running down the middle of a wider neutral ground on Rampart.