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Yes. The state can do a buy out. It's cost prohibitive.
We had a very long thread concerning this.
People are angry with reason. Many people will not be able to afford the tolls, at least on a regular basis.
In real life I have directed people up 321 to avoid 77. Some have been people visiting friends. I got feedback from some and they were much happier with 321. I live west of Charlotte, so 321 works for the purpose that I've sent people on that route.
Traffic only backs up 5 miles on I77 for 5 miles on Northside. I don’t think you could convince anyone that lives there of that. It typically backs up 18 miles from exit 35 to I485 during non rush hour times. During rush hour add 10 more miles from I85 to Ft Mill the old baseball exit. Then add more backups prior to Cherry Road exit Rock Hill. During rush hour that 45 mile stretch can take 1.5 miles to 2 hours.
Also, NC has plenty of money. Really? NCDOT says their reserves are low.
My complaint is the Triad has got more new freeway miles than they need and all with no tolls.
Anybody that travels that stretch of I77 knows it is horrific. People on here discounting the congestion and travel times is an injustice. And nobody that drives that stretch cares that traffic in northern VA is worse. The I77 congestion is a travesty when one considers the new freeways and lack of congestion in the Triad.
It is easy to discount the congestion and travel times if one does not drive it every day. And if you don’t drive it everyday then chances are you are posting about something that you know little about.
The people have been quite vocal in that area because it is much worse than 5 miles of backups .
Traffic only backs up 5 miles on I77 for 5 miles on Northside. I don’t think you could convince anyone that lives there of that. It typically backs up 18 miles from exit 35 to I485 during non rush hour times. During rush hour add 10 more miles from I85 to Ft Mill the old baseball exit. Then add more backups prior to Cherry Road exit Rock Hill. During rush hour that 45 mile stretch can take 1.5 miles to 2 hours.
Wait are you saying traffic is backed up from exit 35 to 485 during NON rush hour? That's simply not true.
I didn't say traffic is only ever bad for 5 miles. I said I would more believe that they were stuck in a 5 mile stretch for an hour than they were in "bumper to bumper" traffic for 40 straight miles. Edit: The only way I'd agree with there being traffic for 40 straight miles is if you're counting 20 miles north and south of uptown in opposite directions. But that's not what OP was claiming.
By the way, if it takes 1 hour to go 5 miles, that's still another 40 miles to do the "45 mile stretch" so if you can go 60 MPH for the remaining 40 miles that's 1 hour and 40 minutes total so I guess we agree.
The people have been quite vocal in that area because it is much worse than 5 miles of backups .
If we're talking the I-77 Express Lanes, actually it is pretty much about 5-7 miles for the most part. Exit 23-30 seems to be by far the worst part of I-77 in the Lake Norman area.
And there's money to finish 485, widen 85, rebuild the 485/85 interchange, add free lanes to 485 between Rea Road and Providence Road, improve 22 bridges on 277, extend N. Graham Street, turn Independence into an expressway, improve the 77/277 interchange, etc.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big John NC
And there's money to finish 485, widen 85, rebuild the 485/85 interchange, add free lanes to 485 between Rea Road and Providence Road, improve 22 bridges on 277, extend N. Graham Street, turn Independence into an expressway, improve the 77/277 interchange, etc.
The money to finish 485 came from widening 85 from exit 10 to the state line and the Shelby bypass. They botched it when the took the money from the Shelby bypass because that road was written into several incentive contracts. They had to find money from somewhere else for it. They couldn't find enough, so they had to shorten the bypass and they're doing it in stages.
Widening I 77 was scheduled, but people didn't want to wait after NCDOT took the money from, primarily, Cleveland County, to finish 485. Instead of sitting down with his constituents and explaining the situation, Thom Tillis came up with the toll lanes, figuring that people wouldn't find out what a poison pill it is before the Senatorial election.
Widening I 77 was scheduled, but people didn't want to wait after NCDOT took the money from, primarily, Cleveland County, to finish 485. Instead of sitting down with his constituents and explaining the situation, Thom Tillis came up with the toll lanes, figuring that people wouldn't find out what a poison pill it is before the Senatorial election.
What an unfortunate situation? I wonder if there is any remedy now...
And it's going to be interesting to see how traffic is affected once the toll lanes are open. Once the situation reaches an equilibirum - will congestion be significantly reduced, or will everyone avoid the toll lanes unless the general purpose lanes are at a standstill (or close to it)? I suspect that's how I'll use the toll lanes, as little as possible. And that could add insult to injury for local motorists as I assume Cintra is guaranteed some payback minimums on tolls. If tolls don't meet the minimum threshold, I assume the contract stipulates NC/NCDOT will have to fund the shortfall, hitting taxpayers for up to 50 years?
Last edited by Midpack; 05-08-2019 at 10:07 AM..
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