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Charlotte Trolley:
Convention Center Construction

Description

These pictures show construction of the light rail "tunnel" through the Charlotte Convention Center, and the tracks across the parking deck of the Westin hotel across Stonewall Street to the south, during 2002-04. They were built ahead of the rest of the LYNX Blue Line, to enable the Charlotte Trolley to run from the South End into uptown Charlotte.

The start of construction was delayed for over a year after the beginning of work on the rest of the uptown portion of the route, because of disputes about the cost (which turned out to be much higher than previously expected) and how to proceed with the project. Construction began in fall 2002, and was mostly finished inside the convention center by May 2003. In August or September 2003, it was discovered that the contractor building the Westin parking deck had made the concrete surface too high in the area where the tracks were to be installed, forcing that work to be redone. Construction was finally finished about April 2004.

Operation of the Charlotte Trolley through the tunnel and on the rest of the uptown extension began on 28 June 2004. The tunnel was built with two tracks to accommodate the future LYNX blue line, but the trolley used only one of them.

Pictures

These pictures were taken at various times, indicated by the dates in the links.

[October 2002] Looking at the north side of the convention center from across 2nd Street, we see a fence blocking off the construction zone in front of it. Behind it, the upper portion of the trolley entrance is visible in the wall of the building. The tall bare poles next to the track are for the trolley/light-rail overhead wires which haven't been installed yet.

[November 2002] | [May 2003] Looking through the fence in front of the construction zone on the north side of the convention center.

[April 2004] Construction is now complete on the north side, and the fence has been removed.

[October 2002] | [November 2002] | [May 2003] Now we are looking back across the construction zone towards the vantage point of the preceding picture, from the north side of the convention center.

[October 2002] | [November 2002] | [April 2004] This view looks to the west across the trolley right of way, just in front of the north entrance to the convention center.

[April 2004] When the door into the convention center is closed, there is a gap in the overhead wire. This gadget closes the gap when the door opens.

[October 2002] | [November 2002] | [February 2003] | [March 2003] | [May 2003] | [April 2004] Inside the convention center, the trolley will run on the upper (mezzanine) level through a glass-walled tunnel. Here we are looking at the tunnel from the east side. In the first three pictures, the tunnel has wooden walls, presumably to shield the construction work. By March 2003 the walls had come down and and a metal framework had been erected, and by May the glass panels had been installed.

[October 2002] | [February 2003] | [March 2003] | [May 2003] | [April 2004] Now we are on the other (west) side of the tunnel. Between the first two pictures, a new pedestrian bridge was built across the main hall, in front of the tunnel.

[October 2002] | [November 2002] | [March 2003] | [May 2003] | [April 2004] From the passageway through the tunnel, we can see the inside of the short stretch leading towards the north entrance. The cylinders which are visible in October 2002 but are hidden underneath the concrete slabs thereafter are vibration isolators (springs, basically) which will prevent passing trolleys (and later light-rail vehicles) from shaking the building excessively.

[October 2002] | [March 2003] | [April 2004] The south side of the convention center, in a telephoto view from Morehead Street, with the I-277 bridge in the foreground. The tracks run across the top of the Westin hotel parking deck, under construction in the first two pictures.

[April 2004] A closer view of the south side of the convention center, showing the trolley entrance and the bridge over Stonewall Street. This view is from the stairs to the new Stonewall Station.

[November 2002] | [May 2003] | [April 2004] Looking north towards the convention center from the north end of the I-277 bridge.

[May 2003] Looking north along the walkway at the east side of the Westin hotel.

This page was last updated on 23 November 2007.

Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Charlotte > Trolley > Convention Center

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