Raleigh officials coming to Charlotte for meeting, transit tour

Raleigh city officials are coming to Charlotte this week for a planning retreat, and to discuss Charlotte’s plans for bus and rail transit.

Raleigh City Council members will also learn about public-private partnerships. The N.C. Department of Transportation has entered into such a partnership to build the controversial toll lanes on Interstate 77.

On Friday, Charlotte city officials are scheduled to give a tour of the Charlotte Transportation Center across from Time Warner Cable Arena and explain how bus passengers can make light-rail connections. They are also scheduled to discuss plans to move the Amtrak station from North Tryon Street to a new site uptown.

Wake County government, along with other local stakeholders, last month unveiled a $2.3 billion plan to expand Wake’s transit system.

The plan calls for increasing bus routes throughout the county and adding commuter trains from Durham through Raleigh to East Garner by 2027.

Wake County commissioners are expected to approve the plan this spring and hold a November referendum on a half-cent local sales tax to help pay for it.

Mecklenburg has its own half-cent sales dedicated for transit that was passed by voters in 1998. Money from that tax helped pay for the Lynx Blue Line, which opened in 2007, as well as the $1.1 billion extension to UNC Charlotte that’s scheduled to open next year. The tax also helped expand the city’s bus system.

Raleigh leaders rarely hold out-of-town planning retreats, and the projected cost of their trip – $31,000 – has sparked controversy.

In Charlotte, the city has a long history of holding planning and budget meetings out of town.

This year, council members are holding their annual retreat at the Graylyn Conference Center in Winston-Salem from Jan. 27-29. The city expects it to cost between $28,000 and $30,000.

Paul A. Specht of the News & Observer contributed

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Raleigh officials coming to Charlotte for meeting, transit tour."