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The last time I checked, Charles Meeker Raleigh Mayor doesn't make decisions concerning Charlotte... The North Carolina State Government does. The majority of our state government DOES NOT live in the Triangle. Raleigh's infrastructure is inferior to Charlotte's. That's a fact. Charlotte>>>Raleigh, so far as roads and infrastructure.
First off, when I meant Powers-that-Be, I did not mean the city of Raleigh, I meant the State Legislators, who happens to legislate in Raleigh. I know the difference!
To say "Raleigh" is representative of state government because it's the state capital, just like in many cases, saying "Washington" is representative of federal government because Washington is our national capital. That's common knowledge and is obviously what was meant.
I understand what you're saying, but it's been said many times on this forum that Charlotte's roads are worse than Raleigh's because here in Raleigh we have some clout of some sort to get more road funding. I don't buy that excuse at all. Blame the special interests all over the state for that.
The thing is Charlotte has much better roads than we do... Raleigh is at least 15-20 years behind any city of the same size, when it comes to our god awful infrastructure, even UrbanCharlotte would have to agree.
That's what I don't understand. Why do you blame a city, just because your city might be lacking something? What does the city of Raleigh have to do with the lack of adequate roads in Charlotte? Blame the legislature, but not the city it is located in. I don't necessarily think it's the Raleigh area that takes money away from Charlotte, but rather a disproportionate amount of money going to fund roads and other programs in rural areas.
This is most certainly true. I sometimes wonder if the current formula should be revamped to help address the exponential growth in both areas. The fact that Fayetteville received more funding than the whole Piedmont Crescent is a bit ridiculous. I might be exaggerating but I don't think I am. And I have heard that the military is paying for it but al of it is still bogus.
The thing is Charlotte has much better roads than we do... Raleigh is at least 15-20 years behind any city of the same when it comes to our god awful infrastructure, even UrbanCharlotte would have to agree.
Yeah, I can agree with you on this (for once ). I have stated many times that Raleigh could use a direct freeway into downtown. Capital Blvd could be a great north/south freeway into downtown Raleigh. Also, I-440 needs lights badly. I-77/I-64 in Charleston, West Virginia is lit up better than Raleigh (and Charlotte) at night.
Charleston, West Virginia at night (pop. 50,000 city; 300,000 msa)
I used to deliver freight quite often to this city when I lived in Kentucky. Everytime I saw Charleston at night, I thought to myself just how much Charlotte should be ashamed of itself (when it comes to freeway lights). Charleston is a sight to see in person to those of us that LOVE our freeways lit up at night. Charlotte and Raleigh should take notes from West Virginia's capital city.
Keep in mind that West Virginia has a toll road (I-77 from Beckley to Charleston) that has been paid for many times over (I've heard). As a result, the tolls collected go directly into West Virginia DOT's general fund. North Carolina could do the same thing if we made I-95 a toll road. Building new roads with future toll funds will not cut it. We need to convert some of our existing roads into toll roads. This is the fastest way to get NC DOT out of debt.
Last edited by urbancharlotte; 08-13-2009 at 03:04 AM..
Yeah, I can agree with you on this (for once ). I have stated many times that Raleigh could use a direct freeway into downtown. Capital Blvd could be a great north/south freeway into downtown Raleigh. Also, I-440 needs lights badly. I-77/I-64 in Charleston, West Virginia is lit up better than Raleigh (and Charlotte) at night.
Charleston, West Virginia at night (pop. 50,000 city; 300,000 msa)
I used to deliver freight quite often to this city when I lived in Kentucky. Everytime I saw Charleston at night, I thought to myself just how much Charlotte should be ashamed of itself (when it comes to freeway lights). Charleston is a sight to see in person to those of us that LOVE our freeways lit up at night. Charlotte and Raleigh should take notes from West Virginia's capital city.
Keep in mind that West Virginia has a toll road (I-77 from Beckley to Charleston) that has been paid for many times over (I've heard). As a result, the tolls collected go directly into West Virginia DOT's general fund. North Carolina could do the same thing if we made I-95 a toll road. Building new roads with future toll funds will not cut it. We need to convert some of our existing roads into toll roads. This is the fastest way to get NC DOT out of debt.
Raleigh could take notes from a lot of cities... Small and Large...
Charlotte is fairly well lit in my opinion. I drove home from Durham last night and the roads were pitch dark here, with nothing but head and taillights to light up the roadways. It was around 10:30pm, and I-40 still had almost the same amount of traffic as during the day. I can honestly say I felt unsafe somewhat, because of the lack of proper lighting. It's as if the Triangle has no sense of civic pride... Something Charlotte has a great deal of.
Charlotte has freeway lights, but a lot of them don't work because NCDOT is incompetent.
Charlotte IMO is one of the darkest cities I've ever lived in. Sometimes its ridiculous how dark it is. The DOT has made some strides at lighting up the interstates, but there are times when I'm riding around town at night and I'm amazed at the lack of lighting. There are either too few street lights, or the ones that are up don't work most of the time.
LOL, Raleigh's road system is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Charlotte. Charlotte has the worst Ive ever seen.
Indeed. I think some people forget Raleigh has portions of its “second” highway loop already finished, while Charlotte still hasn’t finished its first. And NO, contrary to what some may say, I-277 around Uptown does not count as a highway loop for us, LOL!!!
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). I have stated many times that Raleigh could use a direct freeway into downtown. Capital Blvd could be a great north/south freeway into downtown Raleigh. Also, I-440 needs lights badly. I-77/I-64 in Charleston, West Virginia is lit up better than Raleigh (and Charlotte) at night.
Sometimes its ridiculous how dark it is. The DOT has made some strides at lighting up the interstates, but there are times when I'm riding around town at night and I'm amazed at the lack of lighting. There are either too few street lights, or the ones that are up don't work most of the time.
