Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction

[Boricua]

On 7/17/2018 at 10:17 PM, KJHburg said:

From NC 16 construction in Catawba county today.  I can say the entire widening is under construction utility relocation in the Newton area to lots of grading and work closer to Hwy 150 in the southern end of the county.  This will be an important corridor out of Charlotte to the NW avoiding 77.  4 lanes from I-485 mostly limited access but not all to Newton and I-40. 

I-85 construction and widening through Cabarrus County.  the widening to exit 63 Kannapolis is supposed to be done by end of the year then the stretch through southern Rowan county after that.  Yesterday.   Lots of soundwalls in Concord.  

Does anyone know when they are going to start construction on the diverging diamond intersection  at exit 58? I work at NorthEast so I take that exit every morning and I haven't seen any work started at all.

[KJHburg]

Actually that diverging diamond is built just not opened there are 2 parallel bridges but they have not shifted the lanes yet.  Next time  you drive through you can see some signs that you will go on the left bridge coming from CMC NE to go south on 85  but they have not shifted any of the lanes yet. 

[Boricua]

16 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Actually that diverging diamond is built just not opened there are 2 parallel bridges but they have not shifted the lanes yet.  Next time  you drive through you can see some signs that you will go on the left bridge coming from CMC NE to go south on 85  but they have not shifted any of the lanes yet. 

Ah. Muchas gracias

[KJHburg]

13 hours ago, Boricua said:

Ah. Muchas gracias

Here is the project map  to put it mildly it is a complicated project

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/i-85-widening/Documents/US29_601Interchange.pdf

Edited July 21, 2018 by KJHburg

[Dale]

There is a God ....

Subscriber only 6/18 Charlotte Observer. Decrepit stretch of I-77, from Moorehead St to Tyvola Rd to be resurfaced. Starting soon and finishing  by 9/19.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Dale

[davidclt]

I thought this might be of interest to the Charlotte Urban Planet folks: Street grids matter more to your commute than you might think - Charlotte, NC has Americas messiest street grid. We "look" like Rome and Paris somewhat. I ❤Strange Maps. Of note:

Quote

Downtown Charlotte has a straight street grid, but its neatness dissolves beyond the center. Incorporated in 1768, Charlotte experienced chaotic growth following a gold rush in 1799, with further spurts of growth during and after the Civil War, around the time of the First World War and more recently from the 1970s onwards, as a commercial and financial hub. What exactly makes it America’s worst-gridded city? Three reasons:

1. City growth was slow in the 18th century when city planners endowed other, faster-growing Eastern cities like Manhattan or DC with strict grids.
2. Old farm paths converging from outlying villages on the Charlotte courthouse now make up a spoke-like network of roads.
3. Charlotte’s wide urban expansion means it incorporates a lot more suburban ‘spaghetti grids’ than, say, Atlanta, the city limits of which remain much smaller than its wider metro area.

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by davidclt

[orulz]

Funny how that list goes from least populated metro to most populated metro.

Saying that I-95 goes through the triangle is a bit of a stretch. But yes, US 74 should have been an interstate from I-26 to Wilmington 25 years ago and the lack of a clear schedule even today speaks volumes.

[Nick2]

I don't believe that article. Boston would beg to differ.

[Spartan]

22 hours ago, davidclt said:

I thought this might be of interest to the Charlotte Urban Planet folks: Street grids matter more to your commute than you might think - Charlotte, NC has Americas messiest street grid. We "look" like Rome and Paris somewhat. I ❤Strange Maps. Of note:

 

This is really interesting, though I think they are using city limits, not metro areas. Atlanta's street grid outside of the "city" is just as chaotic as ours (keeping in mind that our city limits are much larger than Atlanta's).

[davidclt]

1 hour ago, Spartan said:

. . . I think they are using city limits, not metro areas. Atlanta's street grid outside of the "city" is just as chaotic . . .

I agree completely. I think Charlotte's meandering streets can be charming albeit inefficient.

[videtur quam contuor]

This comparison is related to state laws which allowed Charlotte and other NC cities to annex at will while many (most?) states restrict such action. Thus the city itself is limited to historic parameters in most cases but Charlotte includes all of the former rural and suburb streets formed willy-nilly over the 20th and 21st century.

This comparison helps me to understand how difficult it is for me to offer directions to someone and also to receive directions when there is "intown? Uptown? away from the city? Outbound? Regular Sardis? and other interjections which add confusion to the conversation.

[dubone]

Also, the curviness of a street looks bad on that viral metric but doesn't make it somehow worse for cars to get through.    Connectivity is key, not the straitness of the roads connected. 

Charlotte's farm-to-market roads becoming city streets have been connected but retain their historic names for many sections.   It is a bit like Charlotte's Web for mostly hub and spoke design with various circumferential connections.    Giving directions are easy: use gps.   They can be just as difficult to give in a city with an amazing grid or elegant pattern like DC. 

I do wish NCDOT would allow there to be some straight / 90º streets.   But the curves are often designed around topography and cost efficiency for avoiding some land acquisition, etc.   Straight roads were built before it was really possible to make curved roads due to complex surveying.  Now we have the ability so it is almost a foregone conclusion that any new connection will have a curve. 

[Cadi40]

Highway 74 is very straight for the majority of it, However it’s always clogged with people commuting from the suburbs into the city since it’s the one of the only main arteries that East Charlotte has easy access to. I always refrain from using it when I can.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Cadi40

[Spartan]

23 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

This comparison is related to state laws which allowed Charlotte and other NC cities to annex at will while many (most?) states restrict such action. Thus the city itself is limited to historic parameters in most cases but Charlotte includes all of the former rural and suburb streets formed willy-nilly over the 20th and 21st century.

This comparison helps me to understand how difficult it is for me to offer directions to someone and also to receive directions when there is "intown? Uptown? away from the city? Outbound? Regular Sardis? and other interjections which add confusion to the conversation.

I think "intown" might be the only directional reference that makes sense, since it's always relative to a place that isn't intown, or isn't as far intown as some other place.

[KJHburg]

77 express lanes construction near Brookshire Freeway lots of bridge work and flyovers, sound walls being built.   And notice what is peaking out Legacy. 

[NCMike1990]

The final decision on the project will be on August 15. https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/state-will-reveal-i-77-toll-project-plan-on-august-15/275-578057435

[KJHburg]

Was driving on a new parallel service road in Indian Trail near Bonterra community and these are photos of the new Monroe Expressway (the bypass toll road)  You can see the toll collectors and this is getting closer to completion.  Today.  Interesting what they did with the bridge over Secrest Shortcut Road NC doesn't usually do that.  

[Cadi40]

Hopefully the new expressway will really make what is a now an underdeveloped area of Union County into a booming one. 

[AuLukey]

Hopefully the new expressway will really make what is a now an underdeveloped area of Union County into a booming one. 

Or, you know, not.

Extra sprawl is not what we need. Would totally defeat the purpose of the expressway.

[Cadi40]

While it would add to traffic, It has the opportunity to attract even more warehouses and businesses to Union county which would be beneficial to the economy obviously.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Interesting what they did with the bridge over Secrest Shortcut Road NC doesn't usually do that.  

 

I think that may be a first? I don't recall seeing noise abatement on a structure anywhere in North Carolina before.

[KJHburg]

^^ I thought so for I have seen a lot of highways all over the state and not seen that.  

This new toll bypass will help with all the through traffic going right down the middle of Monroe and Indian Trail.  Union County really wants to encourage industrial and warehouse growth (which the latter they really dont have much of compared to Cabarrus or York counties)  Once this opens I will be a toll tag to  use it occasionally especially on trips further east and to Wilmington.  

[jtmonk]

12 hours ago, cowboy_wilhelm said:

I think that may be a first? I don't recall seeing noise abatement on a structure anywhere in North Carolina before.

There's a few around Greensboro (I-73) and Durham (I-85) that I've seen before, plus a few others around the state.  

 

[cowboy_wilhelm]

7 hours ago, jtmonk said:

There's a few around Greensboro (I-73) and Durham (I-85) that I've seen before, plus a few others around the state.  

 

Good call on I-73. I thought there were some on the newer sections of 485, but I didn't spot any from a top-down view in Google Maps.

[KJHburg]

Up I-85 north today around Concord and Kannapolis.  Notice the new bridge that is a southbound ramp to I-85 from Dale Earnhardt Blvd at exit 60.  Once this is complete I-85 will be 6-8 lanes from Kings Mountain to Hillsborough at the I-85/40 split.  I think the first phase of I-85 widening from exit 55 to exit 63 should be done later this year and the rest in Rowan County next year.  Lots of sound barriers.