Light rail may improve Duke-Durham connections

A light rail connecting Durham and Orange counties is scheduled to be completed over the next 12 years.  The track—proposed by Triangle Transit—will contain three stops bordering the University’s campus.

The stops will cater to various campus hubs, with one stop located on Erwin Road serving Duke Hospital, one on LaSalle St close to Science Drive, and one on Ninth Street near East Campus. The train track will begin at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical Campus and end at North Carolina Central University.

The idea came about through a joint effort between the metropolitan training organization of Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, and Triangle Transit, an organization devoted to facilitating transportation within the region. Notifying the public this early may lead to increased growth in anticipation of the light rail, said David King, general manager and CEO of Triangle Transit.

“Everybody who lives around here knows this service won’t be in place for another dozen years,” King said. “All of the development that will transpire over the next 10 or 15 years will at least have the benefit [for Durham residents] of knowing that this technology is coming.”

Although plans have not been finalized, Sam Veraldi, director of Duke Parking, Housekeeping and Transportation, said he has been in conversations with officials to determine the University’s role in the light rail’s progression. He noted that the light rail has the potential to pave the way for increased student exploration of nearby Durham locations that many students have not been exposed to in the past.

“Today it’s a little bit more difficult to navigate getting there, but if [the light rail] gives people the opportunity to... go all the way up from Durham to Wake Forest, [students can] do things outside of the Duke community and it gives them flexible and easy access,” Veraldi said.

Currently, there are several transportation options affiliated with the University that students can use for travel to off-campus destinations, Veraldi said. He cited the Bull City connector and chartered buses used by student groups as examples.

Sophomore Eleanor Mehlenbacher, a native of Wake County, said that students could use the light rail as an opportunity to enjoy other university campuses, as well.

“If [students] ride it with friends, it becomes a fun kind of group experience and not just casually taking a train to another city,” Mehlenbacher said. “For example, [you could] go party at UNC Wilmington and then take the train back.”

She said that the light rail would be more convenient than the Robertson Bus, which runs between Duke and UNC Chapel Hill, if the rail had more flexible operating hours.

“Usually I’m hesitant to go over to Chapel Hill without a car because the Robertson bus only goes over until midnight,” Mehlenbacher said. “Maybe I would party at Chapel Hill if I knew there was a reliable way of transporting myself back and forth [later at night].”

Veraldi noted that in the future, the light rail may expand its track further to include Wake County. However, before being added to the official plans, Wake County must vote on a half-cent sales tax increase intended to fund the construction of the Wake County portion of the rail. In 2011 and 2012, respectively, Durham and Orange counties voted to approve equivalent taxes.