Concord in the midst of major changes?

[Neo]

As expected the City of Concord expedited the building permit for the drag strip as it is now approved. Construction should start in in February (grading is already being done). The City of Concord also released some general details about their method of reducing noise saying that it would be a combination of noise-diminishing berms, landscaping and an angled wall along the grandstands.

I'm still curious as to what the realignment of Speedway Blvd. will be like. Does anyone have a clue as to what the idea for this realignment is?

[Justadude]

In all honesty, it would make more sense to spend some of that money to buy up those properties and turn them into a parking lot. Regardless of sound barriers, nobody with a choice would live at the end of a drag strip. That neighborhood is done for.

[Raintree21]

In all honesty, it would make more sense to spend some of that money to buy up those properties and turn them into a parking lot. Regardless of sound barriers, nobody with a choice would live at the end of a drag strip. That neighborhood is done for.

I think a wait and see approach is needed. I'm sure they will be able to hear the cars, but perhaps the sound barriers, berms, and additional trees will help out a bunch. No way to tell until the place is built.

[Justadude]

^ If you owned that property, would you wait and see if the place would be unlivable in a year, or go ahead and put it on the market? Personally, I'd take a loss to get out of that neighborhood now, rather than wait on soundproofing to be built by a guy who has already expressed a total lack of concern for the livability of surrounding neighborhoods AND twisted the city's arm so he can do basically whatever he wants from now on. And considering a buyer would have to be insane to purchase a home in a neighborhood whose property values are sharply falling, I'd expect to see drugs and prostitution coming into those houses. Which will make it even harder for those who waited to sell, especially if the place still sounds like it's next to an airport after the barriers are erected.

Seriously, it would be better if the whole neighborhood arranged to sell the property to Smith (who can certainly afford it) and convert it to some kind of commercial use.

[Raintree21]

LMS had the "official" groundbreaking today on the drag strip.

[Neo]

I wanted to update on a couple of things in Concord...

1) My wife and I drove by the dragstrip construction this past weekend and amazingly there are already grandstands up. I knew they would need to move fast but this project is moving amazingly fast.

2) It looks like Cabarrus County is seeking legislation for a 1/2 cent sales tax increase to fund transportation needs (~$10M/year). The great thing about this request is that they're wanting to split the generated money between road projects and public transportation. I really hope Cabarrus County isn't serious about funding to extend the light rail line past I-485, but I would like to see enhancements made to their bus system.

[AuLukey]

It's good that Concord is able to realize they are growing enough that the need for more extensive mass transit is extremely dire and not acting on it now would only result in further frustration down the road. Adding the sales tax is something I've hoped they would do for a long time now. Since the semi-recent drop in state sales tax (which I don't agree with) it gives a cushion for the new tax.

Also, I read that Cabarrus county and Concord have agreed to contribute $60 million while the state has now actually agreed to $20 million. I'm not sure if or when they plan on voting this through.

[Raintree21]

2) It looks like Cabarrus County is seeking legislation for a 1/2 cent sales tax increase to fund transportation needs (~$10M/year). The great thing about this request is that they're wanting to split the generated money between road projects and public transportation. I really hope Cabarrus County isn't serious about funding to extend the light rail line past I-485, but I would like to see enhancements made to their bus system.

I know it may not be the most fiscally responsible thing to do (cost to benefit ratio or something) but I hope they do extend it. To have the LRT to the speedway would increase usage both during events at the speedway (they don't JUST have NASCAR races there plus throw in the IHRA races now) the speedway could be used as a park and ride lot for Cabarrus County residents who work in Charlotte, and could increase visitors to downtown Charlotte and the HOF. I'd even go for a sharp left turn from the speedway and go on up to Concord Mills where they would pick up ridership again due to potential park and ride and people who want to shop but not drive so far up there.

[Neo]

I know it may not be the most fiscally responsible thing to do (cost to benefit ratio or something) but I hope they do extend it. To have the LRT to the speedway would increase usage both during events at the speedway (they don't JUST have NASCAR races there plus throw in the IHRA races now) the speedway could be used as a park and ride lot for Cabarrus County residents who work in Charlotte, and could increase visitors to downtown Charlotte and the HOF. I'd even go for a sharp left turn from the speedway and go on up to Concord Mills where they would pick up ridership again due to potential park and ride and people who want to shop but not drive so far up there.

I really don't think that it's a good idea for the thought of pouring money into extending the LRT to the track. What does it get you in return for the amount of money spent? The section of 29 and I-485 is honestly a breeze to drive through, even during race events it isn't THAT bad. It takes what, an extra minute to go from the speedway to I-485 on 29? That extra minute would end up costing Concord hundreds of millions of dollars I have no doubt and to extend it up, ahem, Bruton Smith Blvd. would be unbearable for any city to accomplish IMO, especially one the size of Concord.

I highly doubt Bruton Smith is willing to open up his private lots to public parking for LRT though, what incentive would he have to do that? He just nickeled and dimed Concord, Cabarrus County and NC, does anyone really believe that he has a real heart in wanting to give back to the community like that? The only thing Bruton Smith is interested in is making money and I honestly don't see how the LRT would benefit him directly.

What would be more economical would be to run special shuttles, perhaps in conjunction with CATS or Concord's own CKRider system. You could build one hell of a shuttle bus system for a fraction of what the LRT extension would cost.

[Neo]

Though I have not seen the actual plans for the realignment of Bruton Smith Blvd but in reading the description of the realignment I mocked it up in Google Maps:

I'm really not sure I support this move and feel that the entire area is simply a lost cause. The real issue is the area around the Embassy Suites towards Derita. Granted I haven't spent much time right in front of the speedway during the peak of race traffic. This really doesn't help with anything but immediate race traffic IMO and does not help the overal traffic issue for this immediate area.

I note that they also have this on a fast track for supposed completion by 2011. We could see some work being done as early as September of this year. I wonder if they other projects are also fast tracked on the same timeline such as the widening of 29 to the new George Lyles extension (and that extension itself).

[AuLukey]

Do you know if they plan on demoing the "old" Bruton Blvd or just adding this new section in an effort to divert traffic more away from the entrance of the speedway? I really hope that they keep both roads. It would really be a waste to just realign it completely. This could help split traffic headed towards Concord and traffic headed toward University.

Also, those businesses at the end of Morehead are pretty close together. I wonder if some of them would need to be demoed in order to support the width of Bruton Blvd there.

The Liles extension can't come soon enough. That is a lot of undeveloped land in a sea of suburbia. While it's nice to preserve some land, Liles is looking more and more like a mixed-use type of generator compared to the area around it (but still not at the level we'd all like to see.)

I overall disagree with the widening of 29 beyond its current point. It's just simply not needed. The only time there is EVER traffic that constitutes this change is for the two hours of mayhem after races are over.

[Neo]

I overall disagree with the widening of 29 beyond its current point. It's just simply not needed. The only time there is EVER traffic that constitutes this change is for the two hours of mayhem after races are over.

I would disagree with that. As someone who travels this route daily to and from work, I can attest that it can get very congested at times. A normal 5 minute commute for me a couple of years ago now takes me 15 minutes and I can remember numerous times where it has taken me 20+ minutes to get home due to the bottleneck before Pitts School Rd. northward.

The issue in the coming years will be the numerous sprawling developments that will be constructed along this corridor. There is a massive development (retail) slated to go in pretty much the entire tract of undeveloped land at Pitts School/29 (around the Food Lion shopping center) as well as the smaller mixed used development across from Concord Farms Rd. (that is seemingly delayed at the moment). In addition the extension of George Lyles Blvd. will no doubt put more traffic along this corridor, especially when it gets developed which I'm certain won't take very long once built. Also the Phillip Morris tract is right where the 29 widening will stop at the new George Lyles extension so how knows what will go there and how much traffic it will produce.

It doesn't help that Pitts School Rd. and Roberta Rd. has become a haven for cul-de-sac developments. More roads no doubt encourage endless sprawl. I try to do my part by living in very close proximity to my place of work but it seems that there are a huge number of people who live in this area of Concord that commute back and forth to Charlotte. It is right across the Mecklenburg line and is a no brainer for folks wanting better schools and lower taxes (debatable I know).

I think most of the problems on 29 at the moment could be alleviated with better timing on the traffic lights. Extending some of the turn lanes and adding new turn lanes could also relieve congestion a great deal. Obviously it isn't a long-term fix but I'm not sure that simply widening 29 through here to six lanes is either.

Do you know if they plan on demoing the "old" Bruton Blvd or just adding this new section in an effort to divert traffic more away from the entrance of the speedway? I really hope that they keep both roads. It would really be a waste to just realign it completely. This could help split traffic headed towards Concord and traffic headed toward University.

I don't believe there are plans to demo the current alignment. They're going to be doing some weird things with traffic flow once the new alignment is in place. You won't be able to make certain turns onto 29 or either alignment depending on which alignment you're traveling on. Seems like a headache for residents if you ask me.

[AuLukey]

I would disagree with that. As someone who travels this route daily to and from work, I can attest that it can get very congested at times. A normal 5 minute commute for me a couple of years ago now takes me 15 minutes and I can remember numerous times where it has taken me 20+ minutes to get home due to the bottleneck before Pitts School Rd. northward.

I'll take your word on that as I only travel that span about five or six times a month tops. I guess I just get lucky when I drive through there (which I only do to avoid the evening rush-hour on I-85 when going to visit my parents.) I just haven't really ever approved of widening roads when there is always the option to build new ones. We're just encouraging more sprawl (see Highway 74.) But, then again, there isn't much choice in this area thanks to all the cul-de-sac neighborhoods surrounding this area that you mentioned.

[Raintree21]

The Great Wolf Resort was approved for a construction loan of $63.9 million which can be increased to $79.9 million if needed.

[Neo]

Site plans for some of Christenbury Corners including the development with Bloom and Lowe's:

http://paradisedev.com/resources/Concord%2...hristenbury.pdf

http://paradisedev.com/resources/Concord%2...hristenbury.pdf

http://www.joneslanglasalle.com/microsites...hristenbury.pdf

[AuLukey]

Just go ahead and pull the trigger already...

This area's last chance to actually improve its infrastructure just went down the drain completely. Sure, there was little hope before, but with the addition of only one new road with the "proposed future interchange" on top of that will absorb about half as much traffic as this development will produce. On the site plans you can clearly see a road about twenty feet from this development that they could have incorporated and connected to to help alleviate SOME traffic off of Bruton Blvd (which, btw, the interstate signs for the name change don't even completely cover up the old "Speedway Boulevard" signs, it looks pretty bad, way to go NCDOT.)

The only praise I can give this development is the large water features they are including, that part I don't mind so much, even if they are just run-off ponds. Otherwise, this just gives me one more reason to avoid this area.

[Neo]

In addition, I saw a site plan permit yesterday for a 1.5 million sq. ft. town home development for the NE corner of Pitts School Rd. and Hwy. 29. This is just north of LMS (next intersection north on 29 past LMS). This will be part of the development that I highlighted back in November in this post: http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/Concord-...653#entry885653

[ellifyno]

This is from the Arcadian Residences thread in the main Charlotte forum (link), but I thought this might be a better place to reply to it:

See, I could understand them moving this to the northern side of Weddington from Bruton Blvd. But putting it up on the great wolf end is just a bad idea no matter how you look at it. That, imo, is one of the most clogged sections of roadway in the entire metro. I wonder if there are height restrictions on the older side of Weddington due to the airport keeping projects like this from that side. I'm waiting for the day that they replace all those stop signs with lights, then it might not be so bad... might. I wish they would loop Weddington back around to either Tryon or Mallard Creek Rd.

The stretch of Weddington south of Speedway Boulevard (it will likely be a long time before I call it by its new name) is definitely one of the most clogged sections of road around. Lyles Lane (behind the Jack In The Box and the Shell station), which carries much of the traffic into the restaurants and big-box stores scattered over there, is too close to Speedway to function well. Without the four-way stop at Weddington, traffic would never get to turn off of Lyles. Even with the four-way stop, traffic severely backs up on both Lyles and Weddington because of the intersection's proximity to the light at Speedway and because of the short light cycles at Speedway. To me, they need to make Lyles Lane accessible only as right-in and right-out movements. Traffic wanting to head out to Speedway/Concord Mills Boulevards would be directed onto Sossaman Lane (behind the Cracker Barrel), which currently has a four-way stop sign at its intersection as well. The four-way stop could either remain or be replaced with a light.

I also think that Gateway Lane, which accesses all of the hotels and restaurants north of Speedway Boulevard, needs to be reworked. Again, its intersection with Weddington is to close to the light at Speedway for it to function well as a full-movement intersection. Left turns off of Gateway should not be allowed at this intersection. However, I think a directional median could possibly work okay there, allowing left turns onto Gateway but prohibiting left turns off of it. Gateway Lane actually loops around on the western side (behind the existing cluster of hotels) and intersects with Weddington a second time, further north. Traffic wanting to turn left onto Weddington to head towards Pitts School Road would have the ability to do so at this intersection, which could possibly be controlled by a traffic light. Traffic wanting to drive west on Gateway across Weddington, going from Quaker Steak towards the hotels, would have to turn right onto Weddington and then left onto the northern end of Gateway. If a directional median wouldn't work at the southern end of Gateway because of the intersection's proximity to Speedway, then all left-turning traffic could access the road from the northern end. It's really not a much longer drive.

To further help the traffic woes in this area -- they can only be helped; there is no possible way to solve them at this point -- they need to not make Speedway/Concord Mills Boulevards the only exit for everything (other than the one exit from Concord Mills on Derita Road). Right now, all traffic has to funnel on to at least a portion of this road. There really are no convenient ways around it. Old Holland Road, which runs literally right behind the stores and restaurants on Weddington, needs to connect to Weddington. Currently, Weddington ends just a few hundred feet short of Old Holland. Extending it that short distance would provide a second exit for traffic over there. Old Holland intersects with Mallard Creek/Union School/Morehead Road (whatever it's called at that point), which connects to US 29, NC 49, Mallard Creek Church Road, and Harris Boulevard. They should also extend the road through the parking lots by Chuck E. Cheese (I think it's Lyles Lane) to intersect with Old Holland. This intersection could be limited to right-in, right-out access. This would require extending Lyles by about 10 feet. Seriously. The problem with these extensions is that Old Holland is currently residential, and I'm sure the residents would not appreciate the significant increase in traffic. However, last time I traveled down Old Holland, much of the property was up for sale, so the people living there have to know the day is coming when there road will no longer be a two-lane, dead-end road.

Finally, they need to open up alternate access across 85. The easiest, and most logical, place to do this is again on Old Holland. Currently Old Holland dead-ends just shy of 85. Directly across the interstate and running behind Concord Mills is Quay Road, which I'm pretty sure was a continuation of Old Holland at one point. Connecting these roads would require a new bridge over 85, but would open up another route for people leaving Concord Mills, as well as people leaving the restaurants and stores off of Weddington. North of Speedway Boulevard, a bridge could be built that connects the Pavilion at King's Grant (home of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Toys 'R' Us, etc.) to Gateway Lane. However, that seems like it might be more work than anyone would put into it. With the widening of 85 north of Speedway coming up (hopefully) soon, that would seem to be the time to build that connection.

I really think that all of these changes would help, and might actually help more than simply realigning Speedway Boulevard. Fortunately, some of the changes are proposed in the Cabarrus/South Rowan Urban Area MPO Long-Term Transportation Plan (link -- warning: fairly large PDF). Planned improvements relevant to this discussion are the widening/extension of Weddington to Old Holland, and the planned bridge connecting Old Holland and Quay over 85. Also noteworthy is the southward extension of Old Holland. This road would parallel Morehead and Speedway and would connect to Hudspeth Road at US 29. It would then follow part of Hudspeth to continue south, eventually intersecting with NC 49 at Caldwell Road. This would provide a direct link for people in Harrisburg and that part of University City to the Concord Mills area. Unfortunately, that document is just what its name implies -- a long-range plan. There are no guarantees any of the proposals in it will come to fruition soon or ever.

[AuLukey]

Yea, I sort of cringed after I made that part of my post in the other thread as it belonged here. Thanks for the correction. I agree that there is a rising need for a connection across 85 at both places you mentioned. A comparable area in Concord would be around exit 58. There are several bridges crossing 85 there and those roads handle probably about the same amount of weekday traffic (combined) as Bruton Blvd. Then it will just be a matter of getting people used to taking something besides BSB. I believe that the bridge connecting the hotels/gateway and the developments on the other side of the interstate will do wonders to route a lot of traffic from Weddington away from BSB.

I believe that Weddington south of Bruton (I can't find a suitable name to call that street,) is a lost cause. The way the intersections are setup now would make it almost impossible to reconfigure as that portion of road is pretty much the only way in and out of all those restaurants and stores back there. I think that if they would put up a light at Gateway and Bruton where the Wendy's and Hooters are. At that point you could reroute traffic at the Lyles/Weddington intersection over in that direction.

[Neo]

Went over to McAlister's by Concord Mills for lunch this past weekend and took a snapshot of the new Lowes being built across the road:

[AuLukey]

You know, I was almost under the impression that this would be nicer than your standard suburban strip mall, but call me optimistic.

I was driving down Bruton the other day and noticed a sign for one of the new hotels being built, this one was on the side of the Convention Center. The sign didn't actually say which hotel it was, it only had the words "Upscale Hotel" written in bold across the top with contractor info below. What gives?

[Andyc545]

The CBJ is reporting that Cabarrus County / Concord is being looked at as a site for a large mixed-use development modeled after Birkdale Village. The project is titled Concord Gateway and would be developed by Trinity Capital Investors. The site, which recently passed zoning, would include 2 hotels, 200 residential units with ground floor retail and 200k sqft of office space, some of which is much needed Class A. The site is located at Poplar Tent Rd off of I-85. This project is to act as a "Gateway" into Concord.

Link Here

Edited July 24, 2008 by Andyc545

[AuLukey]

The CBJ is reporting that Cabarrus County / Concord is being looked at as a site for a large mixed-use development modeled after Birkdale Village. The project is titled Concord Gateway and would be developed by Trinity Capital Investors. The site, which recently passed zoning, would include 2 hotels, 200 residential units with ground floor retail and 200k sqft of office space, some of which is much needed Class A. The site is located at Poplar Tent Rd off of I-85. This project is to act as a "Gateway" into Concord.

Link Here

Would this not be better suited on the Phillip Morris site? I wonder if this is the site that has been a mac truck graveyard as far back as i can remember. If it is this site and this plan does go through, they are going to have to push through the legislation for the I-85 widening next to this lot. If the state is reworking that entire exit, this project's infrastructure will have a deep impact on how this exit will work.

[Neo]

This is a confusing and congested area as it is. It is planned to be reconfigured (where Poplar Tent and Pitts School meet), but for the meantime it is a terrible configuration Adding I-85 to the mix and it becomes even worse.

The Phillip Morris site is zoned industrial, though I'm certain the city would change it in the blink of an eye.

[ellifyno]

I read about this initial proposal a couple of months ago here and here. I'm still not sure I support it. The interchange at Poplar Tent Road and 85 is a mess with no turn lanes or traffic lights (there is a light at nearby Pitts School Road, which intersects with Poplar Tent kind of awkwardly). The DOT has stated several times that the ramps and intersection at Pitts School are all too close together for traffic lights to be put up at each, and that nothing - literally nothing - will be done to improve the interchange until it's completely overhauled. Last I heard, this isn't scheduled to happen until 85 is widened through the area, and there's no telling when that will actually start. I had also read that they were planning on making Poplar Tent a "superstreet," similar to 15-501 in Chapel Hill, around 85, though I've been unsuccessful in finding that information again.

There is a website up for this project, which currently has a small site plan (and nothing else) on it. The project site is the northeast quadrant of the interchange, stretching from the 85 North on-ramp to Woodhaven Road. There are four entrances shown - one east of Pitts School (and just barely west of Shelton Road), one across from the cul-de-sac end of Taylor Court, and two off Woodhaven (map of area). Pitts School is eventually planned to be realigned to Shelton, allowing it to intersect with Poplar Tent less awkwardly and further from 85. If this occurs, I would assume Shelton would be slightly realigned at Poplar Tent to line up with the entrance to this development.

The part of this site closest to 85 is pretty much a junkyard right now, so a change would be welcome there. However, at one time the rezoning and development of this site was tied to the rezoning of another site off of Shelton's dead end. The same person owns both sites, and was wanting to relocate the junk from the side of 85 to the end of Shelton, in addition to relocating a precast concrete plant there. That site, currently zoned agricultural, is surrounded by residential developments, who were (understandably) opposed to that rezoning. I'm not sure if this rezoning was still tied to the other at all, as I've seen no mention of it in recent articles.

If 85 were widened, the Poplar Tent interchange reconfigured and signaled, and Pitts School realigned to Shelton, then I could support this development a lot more. As it is right now, I just feel like it's setting up to make a bad situation worse. I'm not even going to evaluate the site plan itself yet.