Council OKs $50 million light-rail study

Charlotte City Council voted Tuesday to spend $50 million for a transportation firm to design a 26-mile light-rail line running from Matthews to uptown and west to the airport into Gaston County. Consulting firm WSP USA will lead the study.Council members delayed their decision two weeks ago, prodded in part by a county-wide sales-tax referendum that would have funded arts and culture groups, parks and greenway projects and supplemental teacher pay. On November 5, voters rejected the proposed qu