Tampa Rail

There's been a lot going on since my last post so all this week I want to try and catch up on some of the commentary.

I'll start off the series with the biggest news. HART sent out a mailer reminding everyone that the Streetcar is about to reach 3 million riders. That's incredible and good news right about now since by the same token, groundbreaking on the Whiting Street extension is set to finally occur in October. October 9th to be exact.

They've posted the work schedule and a brilliant expose on the project at this page.

For those unfamiliar or who may have forgotten, the extension will reach from the Dick Greco Plaza transportation center to the intersection of Franklin Street and Whiting. It's a major advance for the system that many of us serious about rail transit in Tampa hope will be a potent step in developing the system as a serious transit option.

New streetcar station stop will touch Tampa's business/high-rise residential core. The PDF file on the design effort is a must-read.

Not that TR hasn't touted the streetcar as serious transit in the past. I certainly consider it as such - but more in the framework of an operating rail system that pilot's the existence of a countywide or regional light rail network.

However, the extension heralds more tangible benefits:

The extension will connect downtown to the existing line. Instant rail transit from one's office to Ybor - a historical achievement in Tampa, Hillsborough, or perhaps even regional, in modern day urban rail development. TBARTA will surely notice.
Likewise, the extension will connect downtown's emerging residential base to Ybor, and, residences in Channelside to either Ybor or downtown. Perhaps more than anything, this extension holds promise more as a residential boon.
The extension will be the first of many in a long-range plan to encircle downtown with the streetcar system. Its implementation shores up the seriousness of backers and advocates to see to it that this long-range plan actually happens. We may all be dead and gone before the extension after this, but there will in all likelihood now, be a next one. And a next one after that, and so on.
The extension will make Ybor parking garages viable as downtown parking garages.
The extension will better make the case for premium commuter service development. I hate speculating on the behalf of people who actually matter when it comes to planning and implementing these things, but it has to be true. If we know that residents and workers can benefit from the existing line's new reaches, it isn't hard to imagine the implementation of commuter express service shortly thereafter. The development of commuter rail service would involve reasonable non-tourist fares, a 5 -10 minute headway between rides, and, maybe the use of modern streetcars versus heritage ones, all between certain hours conducive to getting people to and from work. You have a much weaker case for any of these things pre-extension than you do post-extension.

The extension naturally includes a new streetcar station. A highly focused group design effort went into this and the results can be viewed in this PDF file. You'll want to look at the file to see just how the station will look at ground level from north and south Franklin Street perspectives.