Jump to content

Traffic Congestion and Highway Construction


monsoon

Recommended Posts


I do wonder if attitudes towards the Red Line in North Meck and Iredell has changed. I've also wondered the overlap between people who were against the Red Line, and those who are against tolling I-77. In the end though, people who use the express buses along the areas and towns in Iredell, Meck, and York will really benefit from the the HOT lanes. They will serve as the closes thing to buses having their own right of way, and traffic will likely be less of a problem for mass transit commuters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A bit off the current topic but I just came across this and am in awe. Katy freeway in Houston. We may complain about pavement here, bUt my friend who posted this moved here from Houston and her point was she went from this to not having driven her car in 3 months.

That stretch of the Katy Freeway (I-10) is awesome (for those who like pavement anyway.)  I haven't verified what I've heard, but it's supposedly the widest freeway in the world.   It's definitely the poster child for why mass transit is good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

atlrvr, I could not agree more. After living in Atlanta for a while now I often meet so many people who say they want to live in some of the further out suburban downtowns (Woodstock, Cumming, Kennesaw, Marietta, etc.) who decline due to the long, long commutes. Now that Atlanta has a suburban office market, this dream is even harder to solidify since it would be necessary for you to have a job in downtown.

 

Commuter rail would help revitalize many of the suburban downtown areas that ring Charlotte. The downtown areas on north of Charlotte could very easily attract those who are 27-35 and want to live in a 'semi urban' area that has amenities such as Uptown Charlotte but without the hassle, traffic, etc. Additionally, it would help solidify Uptown Charlotte as THE place to locate your business for attracting employees all around the region since all roads, transit, and rail would lead there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A bit off the current topic but I just came across this and am in awe. Katy freeway in Houston. We may complain about pavement here, bUt my friend who posted this moved here from Houston and her point was she went from this to not having driven her car in 3 months.

Was in Houston a few years ago and was on this stretch.  I can remember being on a flyover and looking out all you could see is concrete and buildings.  We had to be at least 10 miles or more away from the center city too.  The traffic there was worse than Atlanta!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was in Houston a few years ago and was on this stretch.  I can remember being on a flyover and looking out all you could see is concrete and buildings.  We had to be at least 10 miles or more away from the center city too.  The traffic there was worse than Atlanta!

One reason I'm happy Charlotte is growing fast, but not nearly as fast as Houston.  Growing pains that require vast swaths of asphalt just depress me.

 

 

NCDOT will begin work on the I-85 widening in Cabarrus County on Monday. https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=11084

 

Work should be completed in late 2017.

 

It still blows my mind that 85 is widening but north 77 is not (in the conventional sense.)  The fact that traffic backs up at just about any hour there is daylight on 77 is reason enough to have rotated the funds over.  Yes, yes, 85 south north of Concord does get backed up during afternoon rush hour, but nothing compared to the random ten-mile backups on 77 pretty much all day, every day.  I understand that it is the main business corridor between Raleigh and Charlotte and this stretch is the last remaining stretch to get to 6+ lanes, but it does seem odd that it is being treated differently than a fifteen mile stretch of 77 north of 485.  I'm glad for HOT lanes, but it seems Raleigh made a bit of a selfish decision on this one as 77 only (primarily) impacts the Charlotte metro.

 

What I wonder is how the 77 widening along Lake Norman will be handled.  Will they switch from land bridges to actual bridges or just expand dirt out into the lake itself.  While I'm all for saving money, I'm a glutton for ornate waterway bridges.  They actually improve land value along the waterway (rather than detract like a land bridge or typical overpass style bridge would) which would, in the long run, eventually make the money back in taxes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

85 has much more legitimate interstate and intercity traffic volume.   77 congestion is more illegitimate commuters from suburban bedroom communities into the city.  This is not what interstate infrastructure was intended for and is a very poor use of resources and a very bad way to design cities.   To break the bad habit of commuting in a single occupancy vehicle 30-40 miles to a workplace instead of behaving like normal urban citizens and living and contributing to the community in which you work, they must have innovative designs to help keep the infrastructure flowing.   

 

Interstates that are stop and go carry significantly less traffic.

 

If you want a freeway to flow smoothly and get to your destination on time, but it is filled with high vehicle miles traveled, single-occupancy vehicle commuters, then you need HOV and HOT lanes to allow buses, carpoolers, and people willing to pay indulgences for their sins to flow and get out of the general purpose lanes.  

 

 

I roll my eyes at every person crying for free lanes on 77.   Chances are high that your behavior in life is part of the problem and you are wasting very very expensive infrastructure.      And just because 85 also has this bad behavior means they should be adding HOT/HOV lanes to that road and not that 77 should be all general purpose lanes requiring no change in bad commuting habits.     

 

If I had my way, they would be HOS lanes (High Occupancy or Spanking) where these selfish brats must get out and pay with a spanking for wasting everyone's time and money. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I had my way, they would be HOS lanes (High Occupancy or Spanking) where these selfish brats must get out and pay with a spanking for wasting everyone's time and money.

As a selfish brat who travels 50+ miles to work in Charlotte, I completely agree with you.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

485 update: Crews have started striping the highway near the new Mallard Creek Rd diverging diamond interchange.  Also, all high intesity lighting is on and operating in most areas.  Signage appears to be cramping up as well.

So, I know it was stated before that the contracts to complete I-485 ended in July, but the belief was that the new section (NE) would open around May 22. Then, the Observer reported construction would be complete in July and I think most people took that to mean the road would open in July. Do we still think the road will open in late May, with some cosmetic work continuing through July, or is that July date now the actual opening date?

Edited by jednc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to the last of 485 opening, I'd like to know how many UPers here are familiar with the Northeast side, or at least more familiar than the likes of me. Curious about how many roads will benefit from the 'bridge' from 77 to 85 and what other effects we might see overall, good or bad, as far as is relevant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to the last of 485 opening, I'd like to know how many UPers here are familiar with the Northeast side, or at least more familiar than the likes of me. Curious about how many roads will benefit from the 'bridge' from 77 to 85 and what other effects we might see overall, good or bad, as far as is relevant.

 

Less congestion on Harris Boulevard, hopefully. I can also see drivers on I-77 and I-85 using it as a bypass, which could ease traffic around the I-77/85 interchange.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The impacts to Huntersville and the Eastfield/Prosperity area of Charlotte will become the most apparent. Eastfield Rd is a two lane road with interstate level traffic that bears the brunt of 85S-77N (and vice versa) traffic. It follows future 485 at a parallel from end to end (where it becomes Harris Rd in Concord.). Davidson Highway/Sam Furr road also provides a link between 85 and 77 and gets some pretty bad traffic as a result. The intense amounts of traffic on those two roads should be alleviated greatly with the opening of 485.

Hopefully this last section of 485 only serves to alleviate traffic between 77 and 85 rather than promoting more irresponsible sprawl along the new exits.

The link may also provide some relief to the 77/85 interchange as it will provide an alternate, and easier route, for some.

As to my earlier post, I wasn't hoping for free lanes on a widened 77, just pointing out the disparity in the decision making on how to widen 85 and 77. By all means, spank away

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hopefully this last section of 485 only serves to alleviate traffic between 77 and 85 rather than promoting more irresponsible sprawl along the new exits.

 

There's a massive development planned off of Prosperity Church Road. Thankfully, this section is will be eight lanes, so hopefully traffic won't be a big concern for at least a decade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It will be sprawl-inducing, I think, but at least there are a high number of jobs in the area with URP, so it will hopefully be growth that does not fully rely on the freeway.  I know a lot of people who work in URP and live in Highland Creek.  I don't know if the new growth will be enough to pull them into Meck County tax and school districts, but hopefully the growth will be in such a way to compete and bring new population into the core county rather than Cabarrus.   In this case the sprawl actually preceded the urban loop freeway, so it is not the same as some of our past experience.   

 

I do like that they made the Prosperity Church a bit of a grid.  That is smart and should have been done everywhere that growth was expected to help divide up the traffic rather than a monopoly thoroughfare that has no choice but to be congested.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ As I understand it, the Prosperity Church Rd interchange is intended to be a "smartgrowth", urban, answer to the loop/sprawl conundrum...   the public concerns of loop based sprawl were expressed during the design of the loop, and the city took steps to integrate landuse, zoning,and surrounding infrastructure.  If successful, this may be a pretty nice feather in our planners' hat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.