ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT CHARLOTTE GATEWAY STATION

The CGS complex will include major retail and office components, making CGS a
destination as well as a transportation center. Charlotte is undergoing major building and
expansion in the central business district with signature office and residential projects
underway in addition to new museums, cultural centers and a baseball stadium. Mixed use
development at CGS will complement many of the adjoining development projects, focusing
on creating an exceptional environment for passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and the local
neighborhood.
LYNX Purple Line trains will use a new platform to be added west of the existing NS
mainline tracks and served by two exclusive NCCR station tracks. These two tracks would
join NS Track 2, the western-most NS track, some 400 feet north of the station. NS Track 2
will be used exclusively for commuter rail service and would connect to the “O” line at the
Archer Daniel Midlands plant, approximately 2,100 LF to the east.
CGS is ideally located to meet the transportation needs of both Charlotte and NCDOT.
Indeed, the spatially constrained urban land forms in Center City Charlotte, as well as the
functional and operational transit and passenger rail requirements, restrict the CGS to the
nexus of the NS mainline tracks and Trade Street. The 2002 NCDOT Rail Division’s
Feasibility Study for the Charlotte Multi-Modal Station and Area Track Improvements support
the same conclusion.
2.2 No Action Alternative
Under the No-Action Alternative, CGS would not be constructed. This would affect the plans
of several other key transit facilities – e.g., bus and streetcar stops, a new Greyhound depot,
parking decks, a terminus for the LYNX Purple Line, and the relocation of the Amtrak
station. Year 2030 No-Action transit and passenger rail facilities include:
• Existing transit routes and schedules currently operated by CATS.
• Current LYNX Blue Line service between Charlotte and Pineville.
• Other new bus services to which CATS has committed.
• New bus services to serve areas that would be developed by 2030.
• Routine replacement of existing facilities and equipment at the end of their useful life.
• LYNX Blue Line Extension by 2016.
• LYNX Silver Line by 2026.
• Citilynx service to the airport by 2009 and LYNX Orange Line by 2029.
• The Center City Streetcar, by 2023.
Charlotte Gateway Station 2.2-2
EA