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My wife and I are planning on moving to NC in the next few months. I will be working in Winston-Salem and she will be working in Charlotte. It seems Salisbury is the midpoint between the two. I was wondering if someone could give me an idea of the average commute time down I-85 from Salisbury to Charlotte and if this is doable longterm???
Your commue would be much easier than your wife's. Though Salisbury is only 45 miles from Charlotte, she will hit lots of traffic as she approaches the city with all of the other folks commuting from the burbs. If there's an accident, her drive could be a nightmare. I don't know what kind of commute you are currently accustomed to, however. Bottom line, I think Salisbury to Charlotte would be at least an hour each way - longer on the commute home, as traffic on 77 North starts to build and congest at about 4PM.
If this is what you must do, I would suggest residing in Mooresville. It would be approximately a 45 minute to 1 hour commute for each of you, and it's a much nicer area than Salisbury with access to Lake Norman.
Traffic on 77 doesn't really affect a commute from Charlotte -> Salisbury. I am sure you meant 85.
However, he speaks the truth, this is not a fun commute in either direction in rush hour, and as he says, it would be wise to budget atleast an hour(or more) in each direction for Charlotte <-> Salisbury.
Salisbury <-> Winston Salen will be (usually) quite smooth in both directions.
As for Salisbury & Mooresville.... both are old cities, however Mooresville was basically rebuilt in the last 5 years and is all new. The burst of growth it has seen has made traffic a nightmare at basically all times of the day.
Salisbury is still one of those places that has the small town charm to it.
Realistically speaking, you are not going to enjoy have one person work 2 hours from the other person. Yes there is an area to live in between, but Salsbury is not for everyone. The schools are ranked very low, there aren't many "nice" areas. You do have the 85 and 77 option, to Charlotte or to WS. If there is a traffic, I usually take 85, when not in rush hour I take 77. My recommendation is rent, then pick either WS or Charlotte. It's only going to get worse.
Realistically speaking, you are not going to enjoy have one person work 2 hours from the other person. Yes there is an area to live in between, but Salsbury is not for everyone. The schools are ranked very low, there aren't many "nice" areas. You do have the 85 and 77 option, to Charlotte or to WS. If there is a traffic, I usually take 85, when not in rush hour I take 77. My recommendation is rent, then pick either WS or Charlotte. It's only going to get worse.
I beg to differ. I grew up in Salisbury and lived there for almost 15 years... It's a small town but there's good places to live and the housing is cheap compared to Charlotte. The commute would take an hour or more depending on traffic.
Well I have family there.. and the schools are ranked very poorly.. Housing is cheap and there are some "nicer" areas.. but I still don't think its for everyone. I still would choose one or the other eventually, because traffic will get worse.. I will admit Salsbury is adding to the area and better than some places.. Funny the 85 is great there... 4 nice lanes!
I would say about 45 minutes on a good day to the center city. If she is driving at peak times, probably a little over an hour. 85 bottlenecks once you hit Cabarrus as it shrinks to 2 lanes in each direction. There is an express bus that leaves from the Cloverleaf Plaza right off U.S. 29 at the Concord/Kannapolis line. I took it many times, which saved me a lot of hell on 85. Clean and efficient. Might take a few minutes longer, but if she works uptown, you can't beat the gas, parking and stress savings.
Also, I've found U.S. 29 faster than 85 into Charlotte at rush hour.
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