South Charlotte Traffic (Concord, Monroe: work, townhomes, construction)

[cooperwx]

Infrastructure does not always have to equal more lanes. Does anyone here carpool or take public transit? It seem to me that THESE solutions are taking matters into your own hands. A few years back I lived in the Hwy 51/Park Rd area and chose an apartment from which I could walk to work. This is another option.

By carpooling, taking transit, and living closer to work you can do your part to reduce the load on the roads, and spend less time on them yourself.

[kmway]

Originally Posted by cooperwx

Infrastructure does not always have to equal more lanes. Does anyone here carpool or take public transit? It seem to me that THESE solutions are taking matters into your own hands. A few years back I lived in the Hwy 51/Park Rd area and chose an apartment from which I could walk to work. This is another option.

By carpooling, taking transit, and living closer to work you can do your part to reduce the load on the roads, and spend less time on them yourself.

I agree with you. I have actually been talking about "infrastructure" in relation to more than just roads, but to include all types of public transportation.

[nyxmike]

Just a heads up - I-77 from exit 9 to the SC state line is being re-paved this summer. The work should be complete in the fall. This is badly needed - the road is in terrible shape.

[lovethebigcity]

Originally Posted by nyxmike

Just a heads up - I-77 from exit 9 to the SC state line is being re-paved this summer. The work should be complete in the fall. This is badly needed - the road is in terrible shape.

Its a shame they don't do road work at night like you see in other places.

[CharlotteAgent]

Originally Posted by lovethebigcity

Its a shame they don't do road work at night like you see in other places.

They do sometimes....

[DUKE1989]

Originally Posted by kmway

But what the Raleigh state house does not understand (or rather, won't acknowledge) is that this part of the state IS a major city and needs infrastructure. Many of the state representatives are a little po-dunk and resent the fact that we have a metropolis brewing here, and they feel ripped off that their hog-farming towns get less money on paper than Meck Co....well, they don't NEED as much. It's all about egos up there. I covered state politics for a while for a living, and these representatives up there have very weird ways of thinking....unfortunately, sometimes stereotypical "southern", "you ain't from around here" type of thinking.

I don't think this correct if you check the monies for the eastern part of the state have been used to build out US 64 from Rockymount to the new bridge over the Pamlico sound before that it was to build out US 70 to Moorehead city. These roads have taken years to complete but are much bigger in magnitude then the 485 loop whioch has been under construction for years. The reason for these build outs to the coast was because developers demanding fund for roads to their new communities. The "po-dunk" people as you call them get little if anything from these projects. So the weird way of thinking is not "southern" as you would call it is big business and lobbist for developers who set the ajendas which I am sure you know all ready since you worked in that industry.

[DUKE1989]

Originally Posted by nyxmike

Those are also conservative estimates. Every line that has opened in this country has experienced ridership way above their original estimates. If it is extended to the northern part of the county with a stop at UNCC and up past the University Area, it will carry a lot more people. It would be like never finishing 485. If it is only the south corridor line only then would this line be useless. The line hasn't even opened yet and you are already labeling it a failure. You have no idea what the turn out could be. I am not going to jump to conclusions and say this is a failure.

The funding for the line is mostly paid for by the Feds, some by the state, and some by the transit tax. The tax is mostly used to fund the bus system. It only generates about $70 million and 3/4 of that goes to the buses. The rest may be a small piece of money for transit but it is very important.

The numbers are directly from the Charlotte Area Transportation Service. I doubt the numbers are conservative. Even if they are off by a couple thousand on the ridership the amount would still be several hundred dollars per person versus $12 for the eastern part of the state. And if you want to argue that there are more then 700,000 people in Charlotte that ok then maybe that drops the number to say $300 per person, but at the same time it lowers the percentage that actually benefit from light rail from around what 1% to 0.5%. Clearly based on the money spent on this boondoggle is not going to benefit any number of people now or in the future as far as transportation is concerned. The only people that will benefit from this are the investor of local real estate(and many of these are from other northern states) along the corridor line and the corporate hands outs to Parsons, Blythe Construction and other companies involved in the build out of the line. And by the way Blythe Construction is also involved in the build out of 485 which is over budget and behind scheduled. They also worked on widening of 49 which had the same results.

Originally Posted by DUKE1989

Here is the information about ridership and run times. As you can see 9100 people riding daily the first year is not going to have an impact in a community ot 700,000+. Some one needs to stick a for in this pig and put the money into the road system where it will provide the most benefit.
From the CATS website:
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/...escription.htm

"Trains will operate seven days a week from 5:00 am until 1:00 am and the fare will equal the cost of local bus fare. Trains will arrive at stations every 7.5 minutes during rush hour and every 15 minutes during non-peak hours. The line is scheduled to open in Fall 2007. The South Corridor is projected to cost approximately $462.7million with anticipated daily ridership of 18,300 in 2025 and 9,100 in its opening year."

[Anigirli]

It’s wrong to get into a short-term regional "battle" with Eastern NC. The politicians, and the public need to think long-term and they are starting to see that the "throw away" mentality was more costly in the end. If we constantly get into disputes regarding where transit goes next and when, it will end up going nowhere. Everyone knows that the days of the inexpensive price of gas are over. So as a whole we must look ahead and eventually adapt our attitudes regarding mass transit .

• Have we become so "haughty" that sitting next to someone on the train is so uncomfortable?
• Are we so "antisocial" that we shield ourselves from other people by the car-to-house-to-car pattern?

Much of the resistance steams from the "white flight" that eventualy lead to the decay of the city in the late 1960's when gas and land in the outskirts were cheap. Now many natural resources are being depleted. You will see that this will effect everything; it will balance out the suburban sprawl that has dominated Charlotte since the post WW II era. Many of the up-coming projects in the Center City (and the untapped surrounding areas) that are slated to be finished in the next 2 to 5 years are mixed-use developments and will create more opportunities for face-to-face contact with all of these diverse businesses, cultural centers, bicycle-friendly, walkable, public parks, transit-oriented, and responsible use of the land. Finally I am not saying that everyone needs to live in the "center city" but be open to change since it's coming.


I cant wait when they build the north corridor line to connect north Charlotte area, Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson since it would relieve traffic on 1-77. The Center City Streetcar system would be so symbolic since it would mean Charlotte returned to it's streetcar system of the early 20th centry.

[CharlotteAgent]

And with 485 to open on the North End it will help 77 tremendously up here

[DUKE1989]

I doubt the additional lines come to fruition unless we get many more corporate sponsors in the area that bring high paying jobs. As it stands the Charlotte infrastucture is in very bad shape and inadequate. We are currently in Raleigh holding out our hands like spoiled children for money to replace what we wasted. The numbers do not add up and the public is waking up to the fact. I wonder how long until we see for sale signs along the south corridor for investors wanting to jump ship. Also look at the picture of the light rail train does that truely look like it will move volumes of people?