Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction

[KJHburg 67550]

NC Quick Pass (@NC_QuickPass) tweeted at 2:28 PM on Fri, Oct 04, 2019: NC Quick Pass has been open in Charlotte and Monroe for one year!  During this year, about 114,000 NC Quick Pass accounts have been opened and over 280,000 transponders have been distributed!

I have my 3 NC Quick Pass stickers all tied to my account.

[KJHburg 67550]

from the I=77 express lanes just north of uptown and boy are those sound walls high.   

also noticed no photo but Hawthorne Bridge is fully underway lots of construction going on there. 

[KJHburg 67550]

Delays on completion of the 77 express lanes and the ball is in the state's court.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/10/10/cbj-morning-buzz-opening-of-final-stretch-of-i-77.html

[tozmervo 8355]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Delays on completion of the 77 express lanes and the ball is in the state's court.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/10/10/cbj-morning-buzz-opening-of-final-stretch-of-i-77.html

I had wondered if they might try to open the lanes (and new express exits) north of I-85 by Halloween - they've final paved a substantial amount of it. South of I-85 they still have a lot to do. 

[midtownclt 44]

I wish someone would enforce the  "no trucks in left 2 lanes" rule on I-85.

I travel this often and the number of trucks using the left 2 lanes seems to

be increasing.  I assume they share that with each other that is no enforcement

regardless of the signs through Mecklenburg County.   Perhaps we could get

signage like on I-40 in Wake and Durham counties that are attached to the

bridges over the left lane(s). 

 

Also, we are less than a month away from the time change.  It will be interesting

to see how many lights are not working on the freeways during evening rush hour.

Nearly all the overhead sign lights through Gaston County are not working and

the lights from the signs throughout Mecklenburg County have been removed some

time ago and never replaced.

[teeg 181]

1 hour ago, midtownclt said:

I wish someone would enforce the  "no trucks in left 2 lanes" rule on I-85.

I travel this often and the number of trucks using the left 2 lanes seems to

be increasing.  I assume they share that with each other that is no enforcement

regardless of the signs through Mecklenburg County.   Perhaps we could get

signage like on I-40 in Wake and Durham counties that are attached to the

bridges over the left lane(s). 

Something that I did not know until recently is that the truck lane restrictions in N.C. do not apply to every vehicle that most of us would consider a "truck".  They're for 3+ axles with gross weight ratings of at least 26,000 pounds.  That would include the typical 18 wheeler, but not a big box truck, or most pickups towing cargo trailers or campers. 

If you see something that does look like a violation, please call *HP to report it (if you can).  Those lane restrictions are  there for your safety (and that truck driver's safety too).  Those huge trucks have massive right-side blind spots.  The couple of seconds they save by scooting over to the left lane are not worth the risk that they crush a driver that pops into their blind spot when they slide back to the right.  

[Hushpuppy321 1680]

9 hours ago, tozmervo said:

I had wondered if they might try to open the lanes (and new express exits) north of I-85 by Halloween - they've final paved a substantial amount of it. South of I-85 they still have a lot to do. 

This is a possibility.  Really depends on a lot of things but either way - Whether they do another partial opening or not (Like the I-85 to I-485 Section) it’ll be up to the NCDOT to approve such an opening.  Cintra will probably have to eat some serious LD’s.

[CLT2CHI 10]

On 10/10/2019 at 11:47 AM, midtownclt said:

I wish someone would enforce the  "no trucks in left 2 lanes" rule on I-85.

I travel this often and the number of trucks using the left 2 lanes seems to

be increasing.  I assume they share that with each other that is no enforcement

regardless of the signs through Mecklenburg County.   Perhaps we could get

signage like on I-40 in Wake and Durham counties that are attached to the

bridges over the left lane(s). 

 

Also, we are less than a month away from the time change.  It will be interesting

to see how many lights are not working on the freeways during evening rush hour.

Nearly all the overhead sign lights through Gaston County are not working and

the lights from the signs throughout Mecklenburg County have been removed some

time ago and never replaced.

I am truck driver and i travel these interstates everyday sometimes we have to merge into left lanes for passing which is ok and for  4 wheeler drivers that decide at last second to merge onto onramps with traffic especially brookshire during rush hour. Countless times I have seen during rush hour cars cut us off just to get to the exit and hit there brake and be stuck in the right lane causing us to immediatly merge to next left lane and this is to avoid any accident but this is  the headace that comes with riding in restricted lanes through cities. Alot of times its just for a peace of mind to stay out of the right lanes sometimes too many cars getting off and on. I try to  stay in those lanes as much as possible even troopers know this is a problem and understand it. Not saying its right its just sometimes not that easy.

[gman430 8676]

https://www.charlottestories.com/ncdot-spending-7-2-million-to-build-carolinas-first-continuous-flow-intersection-in-charlotte/

[Madison Parkitect 1754]

Wonder how many wrecks that'll cause before people get used to it.

[SgtCampsalot 4205]

22 hours ago, gman430 said:

https://www.charlottestories.com/ncdot-spending-7-2-million-to-build-carolinas-first-continuous-flow-intersection-in-charlotte/

So much engineered hubris

[JHart 409]

22 hours ago, gman430 said:

https://www.charlottestories.com/ncdot-spending-7-2-million-to-build-carolinas-first-continuous-flow-intersection-in-charlotte/

Since I've gotten off Facebook I never thought I would miss comment sections, but there are a few moments of gold:

"People spend their entire education and career in traffic design but move aside wiz kids here comes Randy with the answers."

[southslider 1263]

Best comment I read was that it should be called a "simultaneous flow," and not a "continuous flow" intersection.

[nicholas 2514]

On 10/17/2019 at 10:28 AM, gman430 said:

https://www.charlottestories.com/ncdot-spending-7-2-million-to-build-carolinas-first-continuous-flow-intersection-in-charlotte/

Imagine trying to cross that on foot

[southslider 1263]

^Since all of NC 16 (Brookshire) will have a simultaneous green light (left, through, and right) at Mt Holly-Huntersville, a pedestrian must cross each of theses simultaneous movements individually for a staged crossing of four signal cycles. 

While a reduced-conflict intersection (often called super-street) requires a pedestrian to cross to the middle then wait until a second signal cycle to cross the remaining half, a continuous-flow intersection requires a pedestrian to wait through multiple cycles to cross each of the left-turning movements now on the outsides of the road, plus each of the two through movements in the middle of the road, or four signal cycles total. 

[JRNYP2C 586]

So are we talking about a real life Frogger type of scenario?  

[Eightane 230]

I wonder how much more expensive a fix that accounts for *all* traffic, including pedestrians, would have been to implement. Anything from adding a pedestrian bridge over 16 to burying one of the roads in a 'tunnel' under the other would have been exponentially more money- and time-consuming, but would show the powers that be understanding the nature of a city's needs better.

We live in an era of speed and low cost being king, and all other considerations pale. It's pretty unfortunate.

[drumsy 129]

Jersey barriers are gone for both north and southbound on I-85 between Kannapolis and Salisbury.  Southbound travel lanes have shifted over to the new lanes while the previous lanes are being marked.  Entrance ramps from the new exit were being paved today.  It won't be long now!

[NCMike1990 4139]

^ I think the drier weather over the last couple of months really helped speed up the work.

[KJHburg 67550]

For whom the bell tolls for and there is quite a bit of toll lane construction in the metro area.

I-77 north of Brookshire is really coming together now at least southbound from what I saw today.  Photos 1-5 

and this toll express lane construction on I-485 around Rea Road is really moving fast.  Photos 6-8

 

[QClifer 269]

Why does it seem like the state never fines these contractors for work that is not completed on time? For the 77 toll lane project its $10,000 a day fine, that would add up quick and could be used for other projects that are desperately needed. The toll lanes have already been given a extension and are supposed to be finished by Thursday unless a extension is given.  Can anybody name a road project that was either finished on time or not given a extension?

[QCxpat 9459]

Today's Charlotte Business Journal - "Cintra will be fined $30K daily for missing I-77 toll-lane deadline" by Ken Elkins

 Excerpt:  "Interstate 77 toll road contractor Cintra will be fined $30,000 a day beginning Friday for missing deadline for completing the project."   “Per the provisions of the comprehensive agreement for the I-77 project, liquidated damages of $10,000 per day for each uncompleted section of the project will begin being assessed on Friday, Nov. 1,” the N.C. Department of Transportation says in a news release."   “As is standard in all NCDOT construction projects, the prime contractor has the right to appeal this decision.”  "The work is divided into three section along the 26-mile project, none of which have been completed, says Jen Thompson spokeswoman for the N.C. DOT."

Link:  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/10/31/contractor-will-be-fined-30k-daily-for-missing.html

[KJHburg 67550]

I went through the new intersection at Hwy 16 and Mt Holly Huntersville Road and did not even stop.  (had a green on the main light)  Traffic was free flowing towards Charlotte today around 430 pm and it does usually back up some even inbound.  There were still some back ups outbound from 485 but it does seem to be moving more traffic quicker through that intersection.  

[KJHburg 67550]

77 and 77 express lanes just north of the Brookshire.  It is coming together and boy will it make a difference  even if someone pops on the toll lanes to get past 85 interchange.  Today. 

[urbanlover568 1302]

Pay your state taxes, local taxes, property taxes, gas tax, sales tax, and now tolls  Take my paycheck while you are at it! lol  jk