Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction

[dcharlotte]

I doubt it. The way they set these projects up is like every corporation - if one fails it isn't going to bring down the entire thing. Many of their other projects, including 77, now have a government guarantee for a minimum level of profit to justify the building of the facility. 

[Spartan]

42 minutes ago, mpretori said:

The end to the toll lane projects?

 

http://www.wcnc.com/traffic/mccrory-orders-review-of-i-77-toll-lane-project/65066115

Nah. Potentially a major delay though.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

A contract has been awarded to widen the last remaining four lane segment of I-85 in Cabarrus and Rowan counties. Once completed in December 2018 (maybe), I-85 will have six to eight lanes from U.S. 74 in Kings Mountain to just north of Durham north of the I-40 split near Hillsborough.

Edited March 4, 2016 by cowboy_wilhelm

[QClifer]

Id rather have 4 lanes from the aiport south on 85 to kings mountain

[cowboy_wilhelm]

43 minutes ago, QClifer said:

Id rather have 4 lanes from the aiport south on 85 to kings mountain

Eight lanes for that section are funded in the 2016-2025 STIP for the 2024 timeframe. Projects I-5719 (to U.S. 321) and I-5895 (to U.S. 74).

[Third Strike]

1 hour ago, cowboy_wilhelm said:

A contract has been awarded to widen the last remaining four lane segment of I-85 in Cabarrus and Rowan counties. Once completed in December 2018 (maybe), I-85 will have six to eight lanes from U.S. 74 in Kings Mountain to just north of Durham.

There's actually a small part of I-85 between the I-40 junction near Hillsborough and Eno NC, which is west of Durham, that is only four lanes. I don't know if that section is slated to be upgraded in the near future.

But with I-85 being upgraded to eight lanes throughout the Charlotte metro, along with the I-77 widening and conversion of US 74 by at least 2030, will that be it in regards to "big ticket" highway construction in this region? I don't think there will be a need to upgrade I-85 beyond eight lanes, and the same being true with I-77 with ten lanes. The only stretch of road left in the metro that will need to be upgraded, but isn't on the STIP, is US 74 between Wingate and Rockingham. I'm also guessing the Belk highway will eventually need to be upgraded, especially with managed lanes and hopefully a cap, but I can't think of any other corridor that will need widening or construction of a new highway.

Maybe after 2030, the region can divert more transportation money towards mass transit, and upgrades to local and state roads, which includes enhancements for pedestrians and bike lanes, and less towards construction of new highways and widenings. Hopefully our state government is more transit friendly by then.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

22 minutes ago, Third Strike said:

There's actually a small part of I-85 between the I-40 junction near Hillsborough and Eno NC, which is west of Durham, that is only four lanes. I don't know if that section is slated to be upgraded in the near future.

My mistake! I thought that the three lanes that split from I-40 continued on to Durham.

[rancenc]

The last part of I-85 between Salisbury and Charlotte will commence widening very soon.  Contracts have been awarded and construction can begin as early as the end of this month.

http://www.independenttribune.com/news/million-dot-contract-will-widen-i--into-china-grove/article_c85d55c6-e212-11e5-beb9-b38628377e13.html

 

[Spartan]

Sounds like the bankruptcy may not even affect Charlotte's project. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article64009522.html

I know some people out there are just seething about this project and jumping for joy that this is happening... but something to keep in mind is that the City and MPO have already voted to support the concept of toll lanes, and NCDOT has agreed to it too. So, even if something happens to Cintra, the project will still move forward one way or another on all of the corridors where it's been planned.

[Nick2]

Interesting development with the i77 future toll lanes:

http://www.wbtv.com/story/31371673/ncdot-taking-steps-to-reassess-cintra-contract-after-tx-road-bankruptcyhttp://www.wbtv.com/story/31371673/ncdot-taking-steps-to-reassess-cintra-contract-after-tx-road-bankruptcy

Not sure if it was posted yet. 

[urbanlover568]

31 minutes ago, Nick2 said:

Interesting development with the i77 future toll lanes:

http://www.wbtv.com/story/31371673/ncdot-taking-steps-to-reassess-cintra-contract-after-tx-road-bankruptcyhttp://www.wbtv.com/story/31371673/ncdot-taking-steps-to-reassess-cintra-contract-after-tx-road-bankruptcy

Not sure if it was posted yet. 

It looks like construction will continue though. NCDOT is still going forward. 

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/transportation-leaders-meet-friday-on-future-of-i-77-toll-lanes/144263956

[Third Strike]

New projects have been submitted to the 2018-2027 draft STIP. Here's a quick list from some of the projects in the Charlotte metro:

• New interchanges at Providence Road and Brookshire Boulevard on I-485.
• Add new lanes to I-77 between Cornelius to I-40.
• Widen the rest of I-85 from US 321 to US 74 to eight lanes and widen I-85 from US 74 to the South Carolina border to six lanes.
• Complete the rest of the Shelby bypass, along with upgrading US 74 to interstate standards from I-26 to the Shelby bypass.
• Upgrade US 74 from the Monroe Expressway to I-74. This includes bypasses around Marshville and Wadesboro.

2018-2027 STIP Development

Edited April 22, 2016 by Third Strike
Added link

[southslider]

^Is it any wonder why Lake Norman taxpayers seriously question how NCDOT can scrounge up the funding for all these various capacity-focused projects, but not even one additional general purpose lane on 77 between 485 and Cornelius? 

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Hmmm, the Wadesboro Bypass is back.

[alb1no panther]

is there a traffic cam to view highway construction?

[cowboy_wilhelm]

On 4/22/2016 at 9:38 PM, Third Strike said:

New projects have been submitted to the 2018-2027 draft STIP. Here's a quick list from some of the projects in the Charlotte metro:

• New interchanges at Providence Road and Brookshire Boulevard on I-485.
• Add new lanes to I-77 between Cornelius to I-40.
• Widen the rest of I-85 from US 321 to US 74 to eight lanes and widen I-85 from US 74 to the South Carolina border to six lanes.
• Complete the rest of the Shelby bypass, along with upgrading US 74 to interstate standards from I-26 to the Shelby bypass.
• Upgrade US 74 from the Monroe Expressway to I-74. This includes bypasses around Marshville and Wadesboro.

2018-2027 STIP Development

These are just the prioritization score results for projects submitted for inclusion in the next STIP. Probably less than half will actually make it into the draft STIP in January 2017, although most of those listed above probably have a good shot. Maybe the Shelby bypass will be finished in less than 15 years, but I'm not holding my breath.

On 4/22/2016 at 8:27 AM, southslider said:

^Is it any wonder why Lake Norman taxpayers seriously question how NCDOT can scrounge up the funding for all these various capacity-focused projects, but not even one additional general purpose lane on 77 between 485 and Cornelius? 

Yeah... I can't believe this project got pushed through.

On 4/22/2016 at 7:17 PM, alb1no panther said:

is there a traffic cam to view highway construction?

If you're referring to I-85 construction, it doesn't look like NCDOT has anything between Concord Mills and China Grove, at least publicly available on their website. I suspect ITS is part of the projects and there will be traffic cameras in the future.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

The Garden Parkway is officially dead.

[Nick2]

I don't think this is very valid because I've never been on this website before and it seems biased against the toll roads. Apparently the house is going to vote on North Carolina HB-954 to prevent the toll roads on i77 from happening. How likely is it for the house to kill the toll lanes?

http://www.charlottestories.com/nc-house-vote-cancel-i77-toll-roads-overwhelming-support/

[tozmervo]

Looking at the bill text, it does seem to be the case. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015&BillID=h954 http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015/Bills/House/PDF/H954v1.pdf

[Nick2]

The way that article was worded makes it seem like there is huge support for it in the house. It should be noted that I found another article on that site essentially written to show users how to sign a petition against it. Isn't construction already started?

[tozmervo]

Construction has been underway for a few months now - clearing some stormwater work, not much else yet. 

I don't know about house support, but I generally avoid and/or don't trust anything at charlottestories.com. While I think they have a somewhat deserved reputation of ripping off stories, by my own reckoning they have really terrible track record of factual inaccuracies. 

[Spartan]

I guess the basic truth is that the bill does exist. I doubt it will get very much traction. It's probably just a political stunt since 2/3 of the primary sponsors are (were) north Meck representatives. Now they get to say "I proposed a bill to stop the madness while my opponents sat around and did nothing."

[KJHburg]

Not sure where this would fall but it is very interesting an interactive map of where Charlotte commuters come from and many travel long distances to work in Mecklenburg county http://bigbytes.mobyus.com/commute.aspx?County=119&State=37&MinMiles=20&MaxMiles=100&MaxCoV=0.8&CountyType=home

[WCUP]

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/plan-to-end-i-77-tolls-speeds-through-house-committees/316614644

Looks like they did vote against it in the House.  

[Spartan]

This is a huge deal.

I'm sure the people in North Meck/Iredell and Raleigh are loving this because they are "sticking it to Charlotte" but it's not a Charlotte issue. That road serves North Meck and Iredell. I hope the people up there like their traffic, because it sure as hell won't get any better by cancelling this project.

What they don't seem to understand is that if this deal gets cancelled, I-77 has to compete with other projects to get widened, it could still have toll lanes, but it would probably be 15-20 years before any project gets complete up there along with all of the other Bonus Allocation projects that were slated for the area. Further, the cancellation of the contract would result in a pretty large fee for the State which would be paid for by putting all of the Charlotte region's transportation projects on hold for a few years (which would be determined by what the actual cancellation fee is). 

If it gets cancelled then it just serves as further proof that the General Assembly doesn't give two piles of poo about giving Charlotte the tools it needs to compete with other cities.

There was a really good discussion about it during the first 20-25 mins of Charlotte Talks this morning (6/3/15) if you want to get up to speed (pun intended) on the issue.