A new bridge to carry passenger trains across Capital Boulevard is part of the  alignment recommended this week by North Carolina and Virginia transportation officials for a proposed 162-mile track that would run trains as fast as 110 miles per hour between Raleigh and Richmond, Va.

The favored path for the proposed new track between the state capitals is described in a new 114-page draft recommendation report issued for the planned Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor from Charlotte to Washington, D.C.  The report explains the two states' recommendations for the entire path, which passes through Norlina, Henderson, Franklinton, Youngsville and Wake Forest on its way south from Virginia to join an existing Amtrak route in downtown Raleigh.

But no one knows whether the project will ever be built. [5pm update: Pay no attention to the misplaced star on DOT's map, above. There are no plans to bring trains onto the Governor Morehead School campus.] ... [MORE]

View Capital Boulevard in a larger map

Road work will close one of two lanes on northbound Capital Boulevard daily this week between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., NCDOT says.

All lanes will be open during the morning and afternoon rush hour, but this work is likely to cause traffic backups during the day.

It's for bridge and road maintenance work expected to take four or five days, depending on the weather.  There's rain in the forecast later this week, and that could push completion of this work into next week.

The Raleigh City Council has endorsed a new proposal from the state Department of Transportation to route passenger trains through downtown Raleigh on a path that would include a 700-foot-long bridge over West Street and Capital Boulevard.

The council had asked DOT last year to find a new path after Five Points residents and Norfolk Southern Railway objected to a route that would send trains through Norfolk Southern's freight yard along the west side of Capital Boulevard.

The new idea was adapted from a Five Points resident's suggestion for a bridge that would elevate the trains diagonally over Capital, going from the west to the east side as the trains move north from a planned rail depot downtown. (See my story from a Sept. 28 public meeting at which residents commented on the new route.) ... [MORE]

A proposed bridge over Capital Boulevard would cost more than other options for routing passenger trains through downtown Raleigh, but state engineers say it would cause fewer problems for businesses, neighborhoods, streams and historic sites.

Raleigh residents will have a chance to learn about the new approach, and to compare it with options aired a year ago, at a public meeting 4-7 p.m. today at the Raleigh Convention Center. [9/28/11 update: see today's story from last night's meeting.]

It's part of the state Department of Transportation’s work on a proposed 162-mile track for trains that would run as fast as 110 mph between Raleigh and Richmond, Va. The new line would be 35 miles shorter than the route now used by Amtrak, and DOT says it would cut two hours of travel time for journeys from Raleigh to Washington and the Northeast.

The new downtown path devised by DOT engineers, called NC5, would be the most expensive option for a 3.4-mile segment of the rail route from a planned station near Hargett Street north to Whitaker Mill Road: a total estimated cost of $158.4 million. ... [MORE]

View SEHSR alternatives in a larger map

The Raleigh City Council backed away today from taking a stand on any of the state’s proposed downtown routes for a new fast-train line from Raleigh to Richmond, Va., and it asked state officials to add other possible routes to their study.

The council asked the state Department of Transportation to analyze three alternative train paths – two suggested by residents last week and a third broached Tuesday by council member Thomas Crowder.

Each of the three new ideas involves a long railroad bridge that would carry high-speed passenger trains high over Capital Boulevard. Crowder suggested running the elevated trains north and south, parallel to the busy thoroughfare, as part of an expansive downtown development project.

The alternatives sketched last week by groups of residents would move the trains from the west side of Capital to the east side, on a long curving bridge either just north or just south of Peace Street.

Council member Russell Stephenson said the new options looked better than DOT’s proposals either to run the trains north along the west side of Capital, through a Norfolk Southern rail yard, or through a CSX yard on the east side. ... [MORE]

Rea Contracting LLC of Charlotte has won a $1.3 million state contract to resurface 1.5 miles of Capital Boulevard in North Raleigh next spring, including the 540 Outer Loop interchange.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced the contract today, to be funded with federal stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The paving will cover Capital Boulevard from Sumner Boulevard near Triangle Town Center to Homestead Drive.  Work is scheduled to start in March, with completion in June.