The Charlotte City Council voted 10-1 Tuesday night in favor of two major transit initiatives.
Council members voted to spend $91 million buying the disused Norfolk Southern freight railroad from uptown to the Iredell County line. Having possession of those tracks is a key step toward building the long-delayed Red Line, a commuter train to Lake Norman. The rail company's refusal to sell or share the tracks has held up the Red Line for years.
— Mayor Vi Lyles (@CLTMayor) September 4, 2024
But to actually build the train, the city needs an influx of money.
Council members also voted to ask state legislators in Raleigh for permission to place a 1-cent sales tax increase on the ballot to pay for a multi-billion dollar transportation plan. If Raleigh says yes, a referendum could be on the ballot in Novemer 2025.
The current draft legislation calls for no more than 40% of new sales tax revenue to be spent on rail transit. That’s down from about 80% to 90% in previous plans.
Having less money for rail transit led city of Charlotte officials to tell the town of Matthews they wouldn’t have enough money to build the Silver Line light rail to the town. The city has said it could build bus rapid transit in the Independence Boulevard corridor instead,
That’s been a controversial decision.
Council member Lawana Mayfield, who voted yes on both measures, said the city needs a transparent process for deciding how the money would be spent.
“I just want to make sure that it’s very clear that in this decision tonight we are not making any commitments of what the final ask is going to be,” she said.
Council member Marjorie Molina represents east Charlotte, which would lose out if the Silver Line was not built. She backed the plan and stressed that east Charlotte would get better bus service under the plan.
Council member Tariq Bokhari was the lone no vote. He has questioned the governing structure of a new transit authority that would replace the city-run Charlotte Area Transit System.
