Winston-Salem, NC — Streetcar Route Revision

Rail Transit Online, June 2005

Consultant HDR Engineering Inc. has proposed changing the initially-suggested route of a planned electric streetcar circulator linking downtown Winston-Salem with Wake Forest University, Baptist Medical Center and Piedmont Triad Research Park.  HDR, which is conducting a $175,000 feasibility study on the project, suggested the 2.6-mi. (4.18 km) line be configured into two loops within downtown and operate in both directions on Fourth Street.  The earlier alignment was slightly longer and would have looped on Fourth and Fifth streets and run in both directions on First Street and Hawthorne Road to the medical center.   HDR Vice President Charles Hales said the revised route would be more efficient, reduce utility relocation costs and allow smoother operation while providing more service where it’s needed.  “Fourth Street is where the intensity is going to be,” Hales told the Winston-Salem Journal.  “We want the initial segment to be long enough to be a good project but we don't want to put in more than is needed to get started.”  With a tentative alignment now fixed, HDR will next focus on setting the capital cost, estimated at up to $50 million, estimating ridership and identifying funding sources.  The line could ultimately be extended to local sports venues, colleges and other traffic generators north, south and east of the central core.