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Another brilliant idea from the same DOT that gave you two lanes of 485 traffic through the most heavily populated area of Charlotte but three lanes everywhere else.
Yes. I was about to say the same thing. They still haven't widened the 485 from Rea Road to Independence but are going to put in a toll lane eventually (project has been delayed again). Almost everywhere else on the beltway it's 3 lanes wide, but South Charlotte (the most densely populated section) it still narrows down to two lanes after Rea and backs up all the way to the I-77. Yet our DOT is building 4 lane highways to nowhere all over the state in rural sections wasting millions of dollars and they can't find money to finish widening the 485 or rebuild the "death trap" I-77 through uptown.
Infrastructure improvements are a political game in NC.
Despite being only 10% of the state's population, Mecklenburg County created 25% of all private sector jobs in North Carolina during the economic recovery between 2012 and 2016. As counties like Mecklenburg and Wake continue to pull ahead on economic strength (and be majority Democrat), don't expect the NC House of Representatives and NC State Senators representing the economically weak rural areas of the state to want to help Meck and Wake (and their surrounding suburban counties) be even stronger with improved infrastructure.
It is flawed logic that building a six lane highway through the small towns and cities in the state will turn around their dismal economic growth, but the legislature is earmarking projects to try to act like they did something to help the rural parts of the state. When it comes election time again they go campaign and say "Look at this beautiful road we built! Now the manufacturing jobs will come back!" When the manufacturing jobs don't come back by the next election, they add another road or build a random airport in the middle of nowhere or something like that to placate the people again.
Should be interesting to see all the trucks from the HT distribution center trying to make uturns on 74. Hope they make really wide uturn lanes. I also chuckle at the description above that says "minor traffic". I don't think many of us would call the traffic that currently crosses or turns left at any of these intersections "minor".
I could see Harris Teeter trucks using Sardis Church Road and Unionville-Indian Trail Road to the Monroe Expressway more frequently.
Inspiration is actually US 281 in San Antonio, TX. NCDOT studied that road and researchers observed improvements in travel time and reduced accidents. Over on the San Antonio forum, posters have been pleasantly surprised after being skeptics and said it reduced commute times:
It's the other way around. TxDOT was inspired to do the 281 superstreet by the super streets already in place in North Carolina.
For unsignalized superstreets in rural areas, crashes are down about 45%, with the most serious crash type, angle T-bone, down over 75%. For signalized ones, the crash reduction is around 25%.
Another brilliant idea from the same DOT that gave you two lanes of 485 traffic through the most heavily populated area of Charlotte but three lanes everywhere else.
When planned, Charlotte/Mecklemburg said there would never be water/sewer south of NC 51, so that 485 wouldn't need any more than two lanes in each direction. Shortly before the project was let to construction, they rezoned what is now Ballentyne. To build more lanes at the time would have delayed the project by years, since all of the NEPA environmental work would have had to be redone.
So, at the time it was planned/designed, it was probably the LEAST heavily populated area of Charlotte.
I could see Harris Teeter trucks using Sardis Church Road and Unionville-Indian Trail Road to the Monroe Expressway more frequently.
Except that intersection is one that will also become a superstreet. They will have to make a right out of the distribution center and then make a u-turn to get to Sardis Church Road or head in that direction at all.
When planned, Charlotte/Mecklemburg said there would never be water/sewer south of NC 51, so that 485 wouldn't need any more than two lanes in each direction. Shortly before the project was let to construction, they rezoned what is now Ballentyne. To build more lanes at the time would have delayed the project by years, since all of the NEPA environmental work would have had to be redone.
So, at the time it was planned/designed, it was probably the LEAST heavily populated area of Charlotte.
You are correct, I agree with the population of Meck on that side of the county being smaller and more rural pre-Ballantyne era.
My point is in the early 2000's Union county was growing fast, that county has always been a bedroom community for Meck. Hwy 74 was already well traveled and heavily congested during rush hours and prime beach seasons. I wouldn't have taken much of a demographer to see the potential for growth in that area and plan 485 in the southern part of the county to coincide with the rest of 485 already on the drawing board.
Additionally, if they didn't see the potential for growth in the southern part of the county why was that among the first segments completed?
You are correct, I agree with the population of Meck on that side of the county being smaller and more rural pre-Ballantyne era.
My point is in the early 2000's Union county was growing fast, that county has always been a bedroom community for Meck. Hwy 74 was already well traveled and heavily congested during rush hours and prime beach seasons. I wouldn't have taken much of a demographer to see the potential for growth in that area and plan 485 in the southern part of the county to coincide with the rest of 485 already on the drawing board.
Additionally, if they didn't see the potential for growth in the southern part of the county why was that among the first segments completed?
The first section of 485 was under construction in 1990-91. And yes, US 74 was a mess, which is why the Monroe bypass was being planned along with the conversion to a freeway along Independence (why both have taken so long is another story.) At the time, the target destination was Uptown, not the outer perimeter. It was busier coming from SC along 521, which at the time ran through the middle of Pineville. I assume it was that congestion, more than along, say 77 from the north, that pushed for that segment to be first. (I'm guessing since I wasn't involved and don't know the particulars about how that segment got built first.)
Now, should the planners have learned from Boston (Route 128), Washington or Atlanta, probably. But the push from the legislature was urban loops (bill passed in, I believe, 1989.) When written into law, there aren't a lot of options for change.
looks similar to what they do in Michigan larger cities. Traffic flow is probably better, folks just have to get used to it.
The superstreet is more an offshoot of the Michigan Left than the NJ jughandle, although the basic idea behind the concepts is the same (reduce the impacts of left turns.) The primary development pattern in Michigan is along a grid system, so allowing the through movements at the main intersection, and redirecting the lefts makes sense there. In North Carolina, the development pattern is more hub/spoke, so most of the "minor" street traffic is getting on/off the main spoke (US 74 in Indian Trail/Stallings, for instance.) So redirecting those movements makes more sense than the main street lefts.
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