NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by IceCream

"At the urging of residents who live along the proposed route, the RTA has scrapped a planned 1.2 mile spur on Elysian Fields that would have connected with the Riverfront streetcar at Esplanade."

Seriously some stupid people...why would you oppose that?

After reading the older articles this was phrased poorly. The RTA was asking what residents would rather given they couldnt have both and many residents said they wanted the streetcar to go deeper downtown first and then the ELysian Fields spur later. I prefer the elysian fields spur but I also dont live in the neighborhoods further downriver. Either way I hope it all happens.

[Uptowngirl]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

It would connect the two lines but I dont know how the streetcars will be run because isnt there something to do with National Historic registry where only the green cars are allowed to ride down st charles?

No the green cars rode Canal after Katrina for quite some time since the red/Canal streetcar barn flooded.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by Uptowngirl

No the green cars rode Canal after Katrina for quite some time since the red/Canal streetcar barn flooded.

I think tennis is right though, at least partially. Post-Katrina was obviously a time when exceptions could be made.

[NolaWave]

Originally Posted by Uptowngirl

No the green cars rode Canal after Katrina for quite some time since the red/Canal streetcar barn flooded.

The red cars cannot run on the St. Charles line. Supposedly once the red cars run on St. Charles line, the RTA will lose some status that allows the green cars to not be ADA compliant.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Uptowngirl

No the green cars rode Canal after Katrina for quite some time since the red/Canal streetcar barn flooded.

There was an exception given after Katrina but there isnt a problem with the green cars riding on other routes its the newer cars riding on the old routes that would be the problem.

[v-chop]

Originally Posted by NolaWave

The red cars cannot run on the St. Charles line. Supposedly once the red cars run on St. Charles line, the RTA will lose some status that allows the green cars to not be ADA compliant.

When you say "run", do you mean stopping and picking up/dropping off passengers? There was an empty Canal car on the line yesterday at Erato heading to Canal St., but maybe that doesn't count.

And why can't new streetcars be blue or yellow? Are all future ones going to be red? Yellow would be sweet!

[NolaWave]

Originally Posted by v-chop

When you say "run", do you mean stopping and picking up/dropping off passengers? There was an empty Canal car on the line yesterday at Erato heading to Canal St., but maybe that doesn't count.

And why can't new streetcars be blue or yellow? Are all future ones going to be red? Yellow would be sweet!

Yes I mean in service. They test the new red ones on the uptown line however.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by NolaWave

The red cars cannot run on the St. Charles line. Supposedly once the red cars run on St. Charles line, the RTA will lose some status that allows the green cars to not be ADA compliant.

Correct. Modifying the green cars to be ADA-compliant would be a huge expense. The National Registry listing allows NORTA to circumvent the ADA requirements.

However, running ADA-compliant cars on the St. Charles line would not necessarily invalidate the National Registry listing. Personally, I think NORTA has an imperative to be a fully-accessible system, considering that so many of its patrons are elderly. The cost is not an excuse, although NORTA should strive to bring the cost down as much as possible.

[Uptowner]

Originally Posted by v-chop

And why can't new streetcars be blue or yellow? Are all future ones going to be red? Yellow would be sweet!

They actually have a blue one with yellow windows, or at least they did before Katrina. It was one of the Canal Line cars, but I don't know whether it was a test car or what. It looked great and I would love to see different color cars on different lines.

[Blitzen]

http://www.wwltv.com/sports/black-an...133635243.html

Looks like the Saints are going to put a statue in Champions Square. I'm not totally in love with the idea, unless it's done very, very well - which I'm sure it will be. Now if they could just add access to the square from the Hyatt...

Also, if the main Post Office does get closed on Loyola, what are the chances that area could mirror the South Market District and become Entertainment/Residential/Hotel/Retail? It might not be a total loss for the city... in fact, it might make Loyola Ave pretty hopping. Their big parking lot on Loyola isn't the kind of urban density that will benefit the new streetcar line anyway.

[tennis1400]

Met with the guy doing the small boutique hotel on St Charles Avenue today since Im considering doing something similar. I had the hotel name wrong. It used to be the Dale Hotel but he is renaming it The Maestri after the New Orleans mayor. Ill get some renderings for you guys if I can.

[dgpatel]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

http://www.wwltv.com/sports/black-an...133635243.html

Also, if the main Post Office does get closed on Loyola, what are the chances that area could mirror the South Market District and become Entertainment/Residential/Hotel/Retail? It might not be a total loss for the city... in fact, it might make Loyola Ave pretty hopping. Their big parking lot on Loyola isn't the kind of urban density that will benefit the new streetcar line anyway.

How about demolishing it and putting up a new train/streetcar terminal, with future light rail to the airport? is there anything between the post office and UPT?

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

http://www.wwltv.com/sports/black-an...133635243.html

Looks like the Saints are going to put a statue in Champions Square. I'm not totally in love with the idea, unless it's done very, very well - which I'm sure it will be. Now if they could just add access to the square from the Hyatt...

Also, if the main Post Office does get closed on Loyola, what are the chances that area could mirror the South Market District and become Entertainment/Residential/Hotel/Retail? It might not be a total loss for the city... in fact, it might make Loyola Ave pretty hopping. Their big parking lot on Loyola isn't the kind of urban density that will benefit the new streetcar line anyway.

A statue of Bree's holding the Lombardi would be ideal. A lot of people prefer Gleason's punt block against the Failclowns but I don't.

Originally Posted by dgpatel

How about demolishing it and putting up a new train/streetcar terminal, with future light rail to the airport? is there anything between the post office and UPT?

I love that idea, expect extend it to Baton Rouge.

[Chris from N.O.]

I was just complaining on here about New Orleans not having foreign tourism advertising. Well, the good ole' US of A has done it for us, this looks to be the country's official tourism site, and they have one of 12 pages dedicated to us:

http://www.discoveramerica.com/ca/lo...inerary-1.html

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by dgpatel

How about demolishing it and putting up a new train/streetcar terminal, with future light rail to the airport? is there anything between the post office and UPT?

The new Loyola Ave streetcar terminal will be adjacent to the train station on the other side, between the station and the Pontchartrain Expressway. If future light rail is offered to points beyond, the existing train facility is more than adequate to handle the passengers. It's truly a beautiful building on the inside, in case you've never been.

To answer your other question, currently there is nothing but a big parking lot/car turnaround between the train station and the post office.

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=29.946...7&z=17&l=0&m=b

That whole lot is opposite the Plaza Tower and should be built up the same way the South Market District is being done across the street.

[IceCream]

Adequte title, right?

Anyway, this is a mix of history and development. Many of us know and many of us don't know that many of the city's original cemetary's have been moved or since covered over with development, the most famous being the one underneath the Superdome parking garage and Champions plaza (i think we've discussed this before).

Super neat and development related: Vincent Marcello is redeveloping some buildings on N. Rampart (in desperate need of it) into apartment buildings on a block known to have housed a cemetary back in the 1700's. They've found 13 caskets thus far! Sweet! It's the block across from Covenant House. Back in the 80's they found 30 something caskets.

http://www.wdsu.com/news/29744746/detail.html

some info from wiki: "From 1721 to 1800 this block was the first official cemetery in New Orleans. Burials here predated the famous oven vaults and were below ground. Considered unsanitary by 1740, a five foot wall was built around the premises as a windbreak and to block casual entry. Over capacity and a public health hazard by 1788, the cemetery was covered over in lime and closed to new burials. In 1800 a selection of monuments and burials were relocated to St. Louis No. 1, and the remaining St. Peter Cemetery was subdivided, resurfaced and built over. "

There's probably hundreds more under the Maison Dupuy, etc...so creepy I love it.

Anyway now the development related stuff:

Based on the WDSU video Marcello is redeveloping some of these buildings:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=29.96013,...46.79,,0,-8.15

I can't wait to see the end result. There are so many dilapidated but beautiful buildings on N. Rampart that have so much potential (and need so much $$$$$$). My favorites are the four 3 story "rowhomes" at Toulouse, but money money money.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=29.959662...47.28,,0,-7.15

[IceCream]

There's a flurry of news articles lately about cycling, which is fantastic. Where Ya Rack (i'm a project leader) got mentioned in the Sunday paper, but there's also been other articles including this one today that i'm excited about:

http://www.wwltv.com/news/Proposed-c...133650898.html

Proposed city ordinance aims for "Complete Streets" in NOLA

"....Complete Streets" takes a proposed street repair and turns it into a redesign of the roadway, including bike paths, sidewalks, public transportation options and increased accessibility for people with limited mobility...."

KGP has been great to us and we're looking forward to some other initiatives she has in mind to help with our racks

In other news, Where Ya' Rack installed our first bike racks in Gretna! yay!



These three aren't the installed ones...the first 2 we put in are the mayor's right by the steps of city hall, but we have another 25 in the gretna pipeline currently. This pic was just a photo op.

We're now up to 75 in NOLA and are planning to install another 7-8 this weekend. For NOLA specifically, we have a total of 140 paid for, 75 installed and the remainder are in the pipeline / inventory! We plan on hitting 100 in the next few weeks and then installing Mitch's rack and Palmer's rack on the steps of City Hall with a press conference at some point in December!

www.whereyarack.org

(trying not to be soliticious..plus we're a non-profit and the only compensation i get out of this is the exercise...just trying to be legit and post development related stuff.. but we're a part of that! )

[ardecila]

http://www.wwltv.com/news/Proposed-c...133650898.html

Proposed city ordinance aims for "Complete Streets" in NOLA

"....Complete Streets" takes a proposed street repair and turns it into a redesign of the roadway, including bike paths, sidewalks, public transportation options and increased accessibility for people with limited mobility...."

This will be pretty worthless unless it can also be enforced against DOTD. The city doesn't have the money to pedestrianize the city, and when they do, they've generally been pretty sensitive to pedestrians and bikers.

DOTD on the other hand is building stuff actively hostile to pedestrians (Earhart, Tchoupitoulas, Claiborne, etc...)

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by dgpatel

How about demolishing it and putting up a new train/streetcar terminal, with future light rail to the airport? is there anything between the post office and UPT?

Ironically, that spot used to have a train station, before they were all consolidated at the Union Passenger Terminal.

In this picture the old train station is on the bottom. The UPT has just been completed above it. The Pontchartrain Expressway is unbuilt, but will go where that wide neutral ground is to the left. And Loyola Ave is just a narrow street, unwidened yet. The small train station to the upper right is where the New Orleans Arena is today.

[ardecila]

oops double post