Triangle Residents May Have To Embrace Growth To Receive Mass Transit

Joe Huberman's house in Boylan Heights is within walking distance of a planned mass transit station. Huberman and his neighbors are supportive of the regional rail system, but they want to be sure their local stop is one they can live with.

"There's a lot of opposition to having tracks right there on street level, where they'll be an eyesore and trains will be rumbling by," he says.

Experts say higher-density developments like Bishop's Ridge and Park Devereaux are a better fit for mass transit. In fact, they are only half the size that is needed to make mass transit work.

"In order to have effective mass transit, especially light rail, you have to have high density, so we have to think about how we're going to handle that," says Raleigh mayor Paul Coble.

The regional rail system is not a done deal yet. Plans call for 16 stations in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Morrisville and Research Triangle Park. The first phase would not open until 2007.