Charlotte OKs search for streetcar funds
Written by Douglas John Bowen
Charlotte, N.C.'s City Council, in a 7-to-4 vote Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, approved an effort to obtain $75 million in federal matching funds for extending the city's initial 1.5-mile streetcar line, now under construction.
The vote, to some degree along party lines, would extend the route north and east from both ends of the initial CityLynx Gold Line, totaling an additional 2.5 miles.
Last February the Federal Transit Administration gave Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) the go-ahead to advance the Gold Line’s second phase.
CATS officials previously have noted that they would pursue both federal Small Starts funding and Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants in order to advance the streetcar project.
Local opponents, and some supporters, seek to fund the streetcar without any rise in local property taxes, an issue that has generated additional controversy for at least the past year.
