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| Durham Dreamed of a Transit Line. Duke University All but Killed It. | Durham Dreamed of a Transit Line. Duke University All but Killed It. |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| DURHAM, N.C. — Political leaders in one of the most progressive parts of the South have dreamed for two decades about an ambitious plan for a transit line connecting Durham, the home of Duke University, with nearby Chapel Hill. Funds were pledged and renderings were drawn. | DURHAM, N.C. — Political leaders in one of the most progressive parts of the South have dreamed for two decades about an ambitious plan for a transit line connecting Durham, the home of Duke University, with nearby Chapel Hill. Funds were pledged and renderings were drawn. |
| But in recent days, Duke, which has labored to turn around its reputation as a privileged cloister, has brought the plan to a shrieking halt. It unilaterally rejected the proposed light-rail route, which would have cut across its property. And the resulting moral outrage has felt strong enough to power a train. | But in recent days, Duke, which has labored to turn around its reputation as a privileged cloister, has brought the plan to a shrieking halt. It unilaterally rejected the proposed light-rail route, which would have cut across its property. And the resulting moral outrage has felt strong enough to power a train. |
| Representative G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat, said he was “appalled” by the university’s decision. Wib Gulley, a former mayor of Durham, compared it to the moment when Duke called in the police “to gas and beat students” amid civil rights protests in 1969. | Representative G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat, said he was “appalled” by the university’s decision. Wib Gulley, a former mayor of Durham, compared it to the moment when Duke called in the police “to gas and beat students” amid civil rights protests in 1969. |
| And Kevin Primus, a former manager of the Duke men’s basketball team, said the rejection of the light-rail plan justified the school’s reputation among some African Americans like him, who still occasionally refer to it as “the plantation.” | |
| “You have poor and working-class black people who would like to get to better employment in another location, and a whole community collaborating to make this happen, and you have Duke with veto power,” said Mr. Primus, 45, a member of a local transit and affordable housing group headed by Mr. Gulley. | “You have poor and working-class black people who would like to get to better employment in another location, and a whole community collaborating to make this happen, and you have Duke with veto power,” said Mr. Primus, 45, a member of a local transit and affordable housing group headed by Mr. Gulley. |
| So goes one of the more bitter and impassioned transportation battles in a country that appears to be of two minds about rail transit and its future role in a culture largely dominated by cars. While some American cities, like Seattle, Denver and Los Angeles, have embraced new transit plans that make extensive use of trains, other recent efforts have been stymied by clumsy politics, high price tags, and resistance of both the strictly ideological and the not-in-my-backyard varieties. | So goes one of the more bitter and impassioned transportation battles in a country that appears to be of two minds about rail transit and its future role in a culture largely dominated by cars. While some American cities, like Seattle, Denver and Los Angeles, have embraced new transit plans that make extensive use of trains, other recent efforts have been stymied by clumsy politics, high price tags, and resistance of both the strictly ideological and the not-in-my-backyard varieties. |
| Last May, voters in the increasingly congested city of Nashville voted down a $5.2 billion transit plan that would have included light rail. And California has struggled to realize its ambitions for a high-speed train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, despite statewide Democratic Party hegemony. | Last May, voters in the increasingly congested city of Nashville voted down a $5.2 billion transit plan that would have included light rail. And California has struggled to realize its ambitions for a high-speed train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, despite statewide Democratic Party hegemony. |
| In the South, another closely watched decision on rail transit will come on Tuesday, when voters in the populous Atlanta suburbs of Gwinnett County — a former Republican stronghold that is trending Democratic — will decide whether to tax themselves to expand Marta, the regional rail and transit system, into the county for the first time. Similar plans have been rejected by Gwinnett voters in the past. | In the South, another closely watched decision on rail transit will come on Tuesday, when voters in the populous Atlanta suburbs of Gwinnett County — a former Republican stronghold that is trending Democratic — will decide whether to tax themselves to expand Marta, the regional rail and transit system, into the county for the first time. Similar plans have been rejected by Gwinnett voters in the past. |
| Duke officials have said they are not opposed to light rail in general, only to this specific project. But the school’s liberal critics, many of them proud Duke graduates, sounded almost betrayed by the university’s opposition, seeing it as anathema to Duke’s call to “use knowledge in the service of society.” | Duke officials have said they are not opposed to light rail in general, only to this specific project. But the school’s liberal critics, many of them proud Duke graduates, sounded almost betrayed by the university’s opposition, seeing it as anathema to Duke’s call to “use knowledge in the service of society.” |
| How, these critics wondered, could one of the world’s greatest universities — one that produced so many of the liberal intelligentsia who run the region — be so dead set against a big, bold, green idea like a light-rail line? | How, these critics wondered, could one of the world’s greatest universities — one that produced so many of the liberal intelligentsia who run the region — be so dead set against a big, bold, green idea like a light-rail line? |
| Advocates for the train insist that the proposed 17.7-mile service could combat gridlock by linking Durham and Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina, and would provide access to three major hospitals, as well as the historically black North Carolina Central University in Durham. | Advocates for the train insist that the proposed 17.7-mile service could combat gridlock by linking Durham and Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina, and would provide access to three major hospitals, as well as the historically black North Carolina Central University in Durham. |
| They also envision the train as a social justice engine, offering cheap, reliable transportation to the working people who scrape by, cooking and cleaning for the legions of college students in the Research Triangle, the area that includes the two college towns and Raleigh, the state capital. | They also envision the train as a social justice engine, offering cheap, reliable transportation to the working people who scrape by, cooking and cleaning for the legions of college students in the Research Triangle, the area that includes the two college towns and Raleigh, the state capital. |
| Indeed, in recent days, as the regional transit authority, GoTriangle, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Duke to donate land for the project, proponents emphasized the history of town-gown tensions between working people in Durham County — a majority-nonwhite community where 27 percent of children live in poverty — and an elite private institution that did not admit a black student until the early 1960s. | Indeed, in recent days, as the regional transit authority, GoTriangle, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Duke to donate land for the project, proponents emphasized the history of town-gown tensions between working people in Durham County — a majority-nonwhite community where 27 percent of children live in poverty — and an elite private institution that did not admit a black student until the early 1960s. |
| “Given the long history of fraught relations between many low-income Durham residents and Duke University, supporting the project would be a brilliant way for Duke to reassert its good will to the community,” said a letter to Vincent Price, the president of the university, that was signed by more than two dozen members of the university’s Nicholas School of the Environment faculty. | “Given the long history of fraught relations between many low-income Durham residents and Duke University, supporting the project would be a brilliant way for Duke to reassert its good will to the community,” said a letter to Vincent Price, the president of the university, that was signed by more than two dozen members of the university’s Nicholas School of the Environment faculty. |
| But Duke officials are adamant that their objections to the project are serious and insurmountable. They said construction vibration and electromagnetic interference from the trains might affect sensitive research equipment at Duke’s sprawling medical campus, which the train line would skirt. And they are concerned about the project’s impact on the underground utilities that serve the medical center — and the threat of new lawsuits. | But Duke officials are adamant that their objections to the project are serious and insurmountable. They said construction vibration and electromagnetic interference from the trains might affect sensitive research equipment at Duke’s sprawling medical campus, which the train line would skirt. And they are concerned about the project’s impact on the underground utilities that serve the medical center — and the threat of new lawsuits. |
| In their official rejection, administrators said the project, as proposed, would “jeopardize community health, public safety and the future viability of our enterprise.” | In their official rejection, administrators said the project, as proposed, would “jeopardize community health, public safety and the future viability of our enterprise.” |
| At a packed campus meeting recently, most people in the audience appeared to be in favor of the train, snapping their fingers in assent as speakers questioned Duke’s wisdom. Drew Shindell, an earth science professor, noted that taxpayers in Durham and Orange counties had approved a transit sales tax, and that the train had the support of the major local government bodies. | At a packed campus meeting recently, most people in the audience appeared to be in favor of the train, snapping their fingers in assent as speakers questioned Duke’s wisdom. Drew Shindell, an earth science professor, noted that taxpayers in Durham and Orange counties had approved a transit sales tax, and that the train had the support of the major local government bodies. |
| Outside the meeting, Claire Wang, 20, an environmental studies major, Rhodes scholar and co-president of the Duke Climate Coalition, was passing out an information sheet. If Duke killed the plan, she said, it could thwart Durham officials’ broader progressive vision for a growing and rapidly gentrifying city. | Outside the meeting, Claire Wang, 20, an environmental studies major, Rhodes scholar and co-president of the Duke Climate Coalition, was passing out an information sheet. If Duke killed the plan, she said, it could thwart Durham officials’ broader progressive vision for a growing and rapidly gentrifying city. |
| “Many of the city plans surrounding sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and affordable housing are all centered on this light-rail project,” she said. | “Many of the city plans surrounding sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and affordable housing are all centered on this light-rail project,” she said. |
| Duke officials bristled at suggestions that the school is insensitive to the needs of its neighbors. They pointed to an increasingly diverse student body, the university’s embrace of a $15 minimum wage, and major programs supporting Durham’s neighborhoods, public schools and public health. | Duke officials bristled at suggestions that the school is insensitive to the needs of its neighbors. They pointed to an increasingly diverse student body, the university’s embrace of a $15 minimum wage, and major programs supporting Durham’s neighborhoods, public schools and public health. |
| Still, some critics wondered whether Duke was using its stated concerns as an excuse for other, hidden worries about the train. Like many rail projects before it, this one is imperfect, and there are a number of opponents besides the university. | Still, some critics wondered whether Duke was using its stated concerns as an excuse for other, hidden worries about the train. Like many rail projects before it, this one is imperfect, and there are a number of opponents besides the university. |
| The proposed line would not go to the regional airport, for example, nor to Raleigh, although there are future plans for a heavy-rail connection to the capital. The cost of the light-rail line — to be borne by local, state and federal taxpayers — has ballooned beyond $3 billion. | The proposed line would not go to the regional airport, for example, nor to Raleigh, although there are future plans for a heavy-rail connection to the capital. The cost of the light-rail line — to be borne by local, state and federal taxpayers — has ballooned beyond $3 billion. |
| John Morris, a member of a Chapel Hill residents’ group that opposes the train, said that new buses would be cheaper, and quicker to put in place. | John Morris, a member of a Chapel Hill residents’ group that opposes the train, said that new buses would be cheaper, and quicker to put in place. |
| “This light-rail project won’t even be on the ground for 10 years, and is gobbling up the lion’s share of our dedicated sales tax revenue that would be used for transit,” he said. | “This light-rail project won’t even be on the ground for 10 years, and is gobbling up the lion’s share of our dedicated sales tax revenue that would be used for transit,” he said. |
| Duke’s firm rejection has put the future of the entire project in limbo. The transit authority could choose a different route for the train, which would probably necessitate years of new planning and review, or it could stick to the current route and take the Duke property it needs by eminent domain. | Duke’s firm rejection has put the future of the entire project in limbo. The transit authority could choose a different route for the train, which would probably necessitate years of new planning and review, or it could stick to the current route and take the Duke property it needs by eminent domain. |
| Mark-Anthony Middleton, a Durham City Council member who is African-American, is among those who think the transit authority should consider the eminent domain option, calling it “the unsexy part of the work of racial equality.” A big selling point for the project, he said, was that it would serve predominantly black Durham neighborhoods that were badly hobbled in decades past by urban renewal projects and highway construction. | Mark-Anthony Middleton, a Durham City Council member who is African-American, is among those who think the transit authority should consider the eminent domain option, calling it “the unsexy part of the work of racial equality.” A big selling point for the project, he said, was that it would serve predominantly black Durham neighborhoods that were badly hobbled in decades past by urban renewal projects and highway construction. |
| It is not a question of punishing Duke, said Mr. Middleton, who said that he, like many others, hold Duke degrees. | It is not a question of punishing Duke, said Mr. Middleton, who said that he, like many others, hold Duke degrees. |
| “Duke created this problem in many ways,” he said. “They created the voices and thinkers that are leading this pushback against them.” | “Duke created this problem in many ways,” he said. “They created the voices and thinkers that are leading this pushback against them.” |