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I-77 widening may take a while
Huntersville transportation planer Bill Coxe speaks at Wednesday’s meeting. (David Boraks photo)
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
Members of the four-town North Mecklenburg-South Iredell Transportation Task Force were told Wednesday that funding to widen I-77 to four lanes in each direction likely will not be available for years. During a meeting at Cornelius Town Hall, task force members discussed how to speed the work but also whether to make it a top priority or focus on other, more do-able tasks.
It was the second meeting of the task force, which was formed in December by mayors of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville.
Bill Coxe, transportation planner for Huntersville, briefed the task force on the history of I-77. He noted that first sections of the road opened in 1967-68 north of Charlotte. By 1977, the road was extended north to Elkin and the Virginia border.
PLANNING FOR MORE LANES
He also described the complex processes by which funding is allocated, and talked about planning underway at the state Department of Transportation and the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization – the regional planning authority that establishes local highway priorities.
In 1990, officials approved a new exit at Sam Furr Road in Huntersville (Exit 25). In that planning document, planners projected traffic on I-77 in north Mecklenburg would require widening the road to eight lanes (four in each direction) by 2010. In 2005, widening was completed as far north as the future I-485 interchange.
The widened highway between I-485 and Charlotte has helped alleviate some congestion, but traffic still backs up at morning and afternoon rush hours north of Huntersville. Residents’ concerns prompted the task force to put the widening issue on their agenda for the series of weekly meetings, which will run through the end of March. (Last week’s opening meeting focused on air quality.)
A CRUSH OF CARS
Mr. Coxe handed out a hand-drawn map showing traffic counts for various locations on I-77 growing quickly. For example, average daily traffic on the 2-lane section of I-77 north of Davidson, between Exits 30 and 33, was was 43,200 in 1990. By 1994, the figure was 51,500. By 2000, it was 73,000 and by 2006, it was 84,000.
By 2035, at the current growth rate, daily traffic on that section of road could nearly double again, Mr. Coxe said.
“It’s not possible is it?” asked Randy Kincaid, the task force chair and former Davidson mayor.
“That’s not possible, unless we do something,” Mr. Coxe replied.
There seemed to be little surprise on the panel about reasons for the growth. “It is the development we have approved … that creates the situation,” Mr. Coxe said. He said that each single-family home accounts for an average of 11 car trips per day. About 20 percent of those are to and from work, but 80 percent are for some other reason. Those other reasons may be the result of development patterns that spread us out and away from services.
In a later exchange, Cornelius Commissioner Jim Bensman said that when it comes to traffic, “land use gets into this. There may be some zoning things we need to do. Part of traffic management could be land-use management.”
WANTED: FUNDING
The state for years has been talking about a series of projects that ultimately would widen I-77 as far north as I-40 in Statesville. But Mr. Coxe said there’s little or no funding available for them right now.
The most likely next project would be to widen the highway from I-485 to Exit 25 (N.C. 73/Sam Furr Road). One additional lane was completed in 2006. Completing an upgrade to four lanes would cost another $54 million, but the project has yet to be funded, Mr. Coxe said.
It could cost more than $500 million to widen I-77 from Exit 25 to I-40, but there is likewise no money available yet and it’s not in the state Department of Transportation’s current 7-year plan, Mr. Coxe said.
RELATED PROJECTS
Some projects related to I-77 are already in the works. The state transportation plan now includes a proposal to rebuild the Catawba Avenue (Exit 28) interchange, which is one of the most congested in the area. That project is estimated to cost about $34 million, but at the moment, funding is $27 million short of that, Mr. Coxe said.
Other long-range plans call for upgrading Exit 33 in Mooresville and converting the Langtree Road overpass into an interchange. (The $23 million Langtree/Exit 32 project has been speeded up to coincide with a major development near the future exit and according to news reports, could be done in 2009.)
MAKE 77 A PRIORITY?
Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte said residents in his town have said they consider I-77 widening one of the top two items on their wish list, along with a more general desire to get more funding from the state DOT for roads.
He wondered aloud whether the task force should make I-77 a priority. “If it is a priority, we have to work for it,” he said. “In some ways, if we didn’t do anything else in this group, … this would be the biggest success.”
Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain acknowledged the frustration about I-77 backups, but suggested the region’s transportation problems are larger than just the interstate. When there’s a traffic jam, and “people get off, they’re still stuck. … If we spend all of the money we’re allocated on widening 77, we haven’t solved anything.”
Charlie Jeter, a Huntersville commissioner sitting on the task force, repeated comments he made in the first meeting, that having the task force reach a consensus is daunting. He argued that for Huntersville residents, the interstate is not a problem. Improving the regional road network and upgrading the interchange at Exit 23 (Gilead Road) might be more important. He said he thinks the town should consider spending local funds to address some of its road issues.
Mr. Bensman proposed that the four towns “put together a coordinated long-range infrastructure plan,” with an eye to addressing traffic flow issues. He acknowledged that in Cornelius, “we just look at the town limits,” and said that needs to change. Mr. Bensman suggested that one outcomes of the task force might be simply to “get the (four towns’ planning) staffs in one room and lay this out.”
At the meeting’s end, Mr. Jeter offered a light-hearted solution to lobbying for transportation funds and planning in north Meck. “Why don’t we just create a new county?”
DOCUMENTS FROM BILL COXE
(requires Adobe Reader software)
Chronology of I-77 construction and improvements
I-77 improvements in the pipeline
Map of I-77 daily traffic counts, 1994-2006
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
Jan. 3, 2008, “Task force gets to work”
Dec. 14, 2007, “Mayors form transport task force.”
More information about the task force, including an executive summary of the meeting, is available on the Town of Davidson website.
Filed under: Commuter rail line, Links, Living with Growth, Traffic alerts
If the primary suggestion of this task force is to widen I-77, it will have been a failure. Continuing to widen the interstate is an expensive, long-term “solution” which does not address the underlying causes of our traffic problems, but rather encourages them.
It is a fascinating statistic that we take on average 9 non-work related trips daily. These “semi-optional” trips appear to be a key driver of our traffic troubles, although it is the interstate congestion that gets the press.
Changing our land and vehicle use is the solution, although admittedly a complex one. As a personal example, I used to drive about 3,000 miles each month when I was building houses in both north Mecklenburg and south Charlotte (and Lincoln, Cabarrus and Rowan counties for a time). Now that our business is concentrated in Davidson and Cornelius, I drive “only” 1,000 miles each month.
Granted, this change in my own driving habits was not the result of a conscious desire to drive less, but the outgrowth of a desire to simplify my business. But, I think most of us - if pressed - could find ways to cut back on our mileage.
It doesn’t appear -yet- that $3/gallon gas is doing the trick (and rising gas prices of course mostly impact the poor, so changing driving habits by making it more costly to drive is not the answer). Hopefully this task force will come up with some creative approaches that balance personal rights with public responsibilities.
Wanted: More attention to buses
If the Town and CATS would take the local bus system seriously, and make it comfortable and convenient, many less car trips would be required. This would mean:
* Running the buses down Main Street to Griffith, where the people, shops, library, businesses, etc. are — not on Jackson St., where there are only parking lots.
*Installing bus shelters that are dry, lighted, and have seats for people carrying bags.
Davidson has essentially neglected any accommodation for bus riders, except painting parking spaces for commuter bus risders’ cars on Griffith. Cars 1, pedestrians 0, as usual.
Finally, will there be bus service from Downtown Davidson to the new shopping areas on Griffith, or will everyone be driving to the Harris-Teeter? I sure wish the planners had included a bikeway/greenway before all the new construction went in. Cars 1, pedestrians 0, as usual.
Additional coverage from the Mooresville Tribune:
Jan. 16, 2008, Mooresville Tribune, “Tackling I-77’s woes will be no easy task for 4-town committee.”