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Agreed, I think I read somewhere that south Charlotte had the 2nd highest growth rate in the country. I
see tremendous growth in the Ballantyne area. New apartment complexes and housing everywhere...the thing I don't see is new roads. Audrey Kell, Johnson, and Rea will be a congested mess in a few short years...
in a few short years? they are already a congested mess
Agreed, I think I read somewhere that south Charlotte had the 2nd highest growth rate in the country. I
see tremendous growth in the Ballantyne area. New apartment complexes and housing everywhere...the thing I don't see is new roads. Audrey Kell, Johnson, and Rea will be a congested mess in a few short years...
Adding lanes to roads doesn't always solve the problem. Atlanta is a great example of this.
Adding lanes to roads doesn't always solve the problem. Atlanta is a great example of this.
Well he said adding new roads, and when it comes to secondary arterials and back roads, adding lanes can help out a lot. That doesn't necessarily hold true for interstates and major highways though.
I would rather live in the 1st or 2nd projected fastest growing cities in the U.S. for the next 20 years (Charlotte and Raleigh) than in the 1st or 2nd projected fastest dying cities. It is true that services may go up in price, but so do the values of homes. My friends have purchased beautiful condos in South Park for a steal. In 10 to 20 years, they will likely be worth double. I believe that if friends tell you that you "should move to a certain place," it is good advise if they are really friends as they would likely know and care about your investments.
As far as roads, I have lived in many of the countries largest cities and the roads in Charlotte are fine and as good or better than the majority. If you read previous postings, there are even those that laugh at our rush hour traffic as they think it is so "light." I must admit that I think that person was a but nutty.
I have to respectfully disagree with your observation primarily because of I-77. It wasn't designed to support easy expansion to maximum lane capacity (8-10 lanes or 4-5 in each direction) in the sections of the highway needed the most - as to the reason why the state hasn't pursued expansion due to enormous cost from SC (border) to Mooresville. Of course a portion of the road is planned for expansion via toll roads but if the highway had been properly planned, I'm sure DOT would have executed a similar expansion plan like they did for I-85. I-77 through Rock Hill (SC DOT) was properly planned and the abrupt disjointed and incompetent design is readily apparent once you cross into NC.
Secondly, I-85 does not feed into downtown Charlotte and the only accessible freeway to downtown is via I-77. I'm not sure why NC DOT decided to sort of bypass downtown areas via interstates but it makes accessing downtown difficult without using secondary roads from I-85. I live this daily because commuting into uptown from Concord during rush hour is a mess that could have been alleviated with direct freeway via I-85. I usually take one of the secondary roads (which are increasingly overloaded) because of the daily backups at the poorly planned I-85/I-77 intersection that doesn't have flyover ramps...it's rather puzzling?
Expanding freeways alone isn't the sole response to address traffic congestion, but the basics are the basics and for the most part, the interstate infrastructure in Charlotte will need major overhauls and upgrades to be on par with its peers. Although Atlanta is heavily congested, at least they got the freeway infrastructure basics right. I can't think of another mid-size to major city where access to downtown via freeways is so difficult.
Last edited by Big Aristotle; 09-07-2014 at 05:54 AM..
The lack of a network of secondary roads is a huge problem. Nothing is interconnected. When I was a kid up in MA, I could get anywhere in town on secondary roads. Around here, none of the neighborhoods connect, how can a kid take his bike to visit a friend?...things are arranged in a vein-artery network. So the more they add housing the more congested the major roads get....then they add traffic lights to control the flow....
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Originally Posted by Big Aristotle
I have to respectfully disagree with your observation primarily because of I-77. It wasn't designed to support easy expansion to maximum lane capacity (8-10 lanes or 4-5 in each direction) in the sections of the highway needed the most - as to the reason why the state hasn't pursued expansion due to enormous cost from SC (border) to Mooresville. Of course a portion of the road is planned for expansion via toll roads but if the highway had been properly planned, I'm sure DOT would have executed a similar expansion plan like they did for I-85. I-77 through Rock Hill (SC DOT) was properly planned and the abrupt disjointed and incompetent design is readily apparent once you cross into NC.
Secondly, I-85 does not feed into downtown Charlotte and the only accessible freeway to downtown is via I-77. I'm not sure why NC DOT decided to sort of bypass downtown areas via interstates but it makes accessing downtown difficult without using secondary roads from I-85. I live this daily because commuting into uptown from Concord during rush hour is a mess that could have been alleviated with direct freeway via I-85. I usually take one of the secondary roads (which are increasingly overloaded) because of the daily backups at the poorly planned I-85/I-77 intersection that doesn't have flyover ramps...it's rather puzzling?
Expanding freeways alone isn't the sole response to address traffic congestion, but the basics are the basics and for the most part, the interstate infrastructure in Charlotte will need major overhauls and upgrades to be on par with its peers. Although Atlanta is heavily congested, at least they got the freeway infrastructure basics right. I can't think of another mid-size to major city where access to downtown via freeways is so difficult.
Actually, familiarity with PENNDOT & NJDOT will give you 2 close contenders in the "What were they thinking?" category.
The push is on to widen I 85 from the Gaston County line to exit 10 to 4 lanes in each direction.
The lack of a network of secondary roads is a huge problem. Nothing is interconnected. When I was a kid up in MA, I could get anywhere in town on secondary roads. Around here, none of the neighborhoods connect, how can a kid take his bike to visit a friend?...things are arranged in a vein-artery network. So the more they add housing the more congested the major roads get....then they add traffic lights to control the flow....
I couldn't agree more. This is a huge issue. I've even noticed it moving from Sedgefield to Cotswold. Briar Creek limits the neighborhood connectivity between the Providence/Randolph/Wendover Rd area. That, and Eastover prefers to limit outside access, which I can't blame them.
I can't think of another mid-size to major city where access to downtown via freeways is so difficult.
I'd contend that this is a good thing, not a bad thing.
Look at Boston. How much money was spent to make their bisecting freeway go away and how many years did it take to accomplish? Urban interstates/freeways destroy urban districts. They often create a "right side" and "wrong side" of the proverbial "tracks". The areas immediately adjacent to them often lay waste in under-development because, frankly, there's a freaking freeway next door. They often become eyesores, dangerous and seedy. Their whole purpose is to rapidly move people through an area that begs for people to slow down and linger.
Urban land is way too valuable to all residents of their respective cities because of the tax revenue generating potential of the land. I am glad that Raleigh citizens and government realized the pitfalls of an urban highway through it decades ago. From what I understand, DOT had plans to plow a N-S artery through the city but the local government and citizens resisted. If I have this correct, the DOT settled with the city on two parallel one way streets to move traffic through Raleigh at an urban speed. This is why Raleigh has McDowell St. running north and Dawson running south as the city connection of the US-70 corridor. Even so, Raleigh has still suffered some consequences of freeway-esque design as US-70 pours out of DT onto Capital Boulevard with increasing speeds and an overpass over Peace Street thereby cutting off some of the street grid on the north end of DT. To further alleviate this small amount of damage done decades ago, the city and the DOT have agreed to improve this area as well with changes to the bridge replacement design that will enhance the urban experience.
I say good for Charlotte and any other city that doesn't have a highway/freeway/interstate running through its core. These types of roads are not born from urban design philosophy; they are products of the suburban model.
I would rather live in the 1st or 2nd projected fastest growing cities in the U.S. for the next 20 years (Charlotte and Raleigh) than in the 1st or 2nd projected fastest dying cities. It is true that services may go up in price, but so do the values of homes. My friends have purchased beautiful condos in South Park for a steal. In 10 to 20 years, they will likely be worth double. I believe that if friends tell you that you "should move to a certain place," it is good advise if they are really friends as they would likely know and care about your investments.
As far as roads, I have lived in many of the countries largest cities and the roads in Charlotte are fine and as good or better than the majority. If you read previous postings, there are even those that laugh at our rush hour traffic as they think it is so "light." I must admit that I think that person was a but nutty.
I was actually told by a realtor in a new Tega Subdivision just the opposite. He said that the big gains in real estate have already been seen in the Charlotte region and now things are starting to stabilize. Maybe the long term investment will be okay, but that's basically true anywhere. I'd be more worried about paying top dollar for a house in a brand new subdivision in a "hot" market and then have the bubble burst. You can never predict which way the economy is going to go and even the Charlotte area could take hit. We've already seen the "hot" housing market tank in 2008 with a record number of foreclosures........ it can happen again.
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