Temporarily inconvenient on the East End
The Chronicle reports this morning that METRO’s plan to stop the East End Line 6 blocks short of the Magnolia Transit Center — rumored for months — now seems to be official. Essentially, METRO wants to save the cost of an overpass over a freight rail line (the East Belt Subdivision) by stopping the line just east of the tracks and putting in a bus shuttle from there to the Magnolia Transit Center. (The article says that METRO looked at putting the light rail line at grade across the railroad tracks; that has never been done on a modern US light rail system, and it’s doubtful federal safety regulations would permit it. Those same regulations, of course, permit buses to cross rail lines with no concerns. What the difference is, I don’t know.)
This is obviously a major inconvenience to passengers. The transit center is a major hub for local buses; it is also surrounded by a local shopping area that’s a destination in itself. The proposed bus shuttle would make a lot of transit trips longer and less reliable. The Magnolia Transit Center is the right place for this line to go; anything short is just an expedient compromise.
Fundamentally, this is a failure of local coordination. The overpass isn’t just needed for trains; it’s needed for cars and pedestrians. Harrisburg grids to a halt whenever a freight train passes; commuters end up late to work, children can’t make it to school, fire trucks are delayed. An overpass has been needed here for at least half a century; through all that time, neither the city nor the county has done anything about it.
“Temporary” terminal stations have a way of becoming permanent. The county the city, the freight rail district, the railroad, and METRO have an opportunity to get together and improve not just transit service but traffic and public safety. That’s not the way things usually work around here. But with political leadership, it could be.
There’s no roadblock between here and our forums.