MATTHEWS — A new sales tax plan to fund a light rail expansion in Mecklenburg County has its first casualty: the Silver Line extension to Matthews.
Matthews Mayor John Higdon told Channel 9′s Joe Bruno that the new sales tax plan no longer funds light rail to east Charlotte and Matthews.
Instead, the plans call for Bus Rapid Transit from Charlotte to Matthews.
[ RELATED > All aboard: City of Charlotte reaches historic agreement for Red Line, records show ]
Channel 9 first reported Wednesday when the city of Charlotte reached an agreement to build the Red Line commuter rail project north toward Iredell County. That plan hinges on a sales tax increase referendum, as long as it’s approved by the North Carolina General Assembly.
Higdon says he’s opposed to the change in the sales tax plan.
The Silver Line was announced nearly a decade ago, and an original plan would have it run along Independence Boulevard to Monroe Road, running through Matthews.
Jason Schneider with the city of Charlotte said that the Metropolitan Transit Commission’s plan for the southeast corridor back in 2002 was Bus Rapid Transit. He sent a statement to Channel 9′s Joe Bruno on Friday saying that the city is focused on giving people more transportation options, adding that BRT can achieve “many of the same benefits associated with light rail.”
“If we focus on why we need to build transit, we can figure out a what works best for all our residents and businesses,” the city’s statement said, in part. “In some cases, BRT may provide a better solution to transit in our respective communities by delivering high-capacity transit faster, at lower cost and with less disruption to the residents and businesses. Many of the same benefits associated with light rail are achievable with BRT and highly successful BRT systems have been built by our peers around the country and cities around the world. Additionally, there are national examples of BRT supporting transit-oriented development.”
Under the new plan, the Silver Line rail to Charlotte Douglas International Airport is still in place.
We’ll have more details about the development on Channel 9. Watch the full story at 5 p.m. Friday.
(VIDEO: Sullenberger Aviation Museum set to reopen this weekend in west Charlotte)
This browser does not support the video element.
Read More: Silver Line to Matthews left out of Charlotte’s new light rail plan – WSOC TV