View from atop Cornelius Town Hall shows the intersection of N.C. 115 and Catawba Avenue (foreground). That's the Antiquity development at upper left. (Doug Barrick photo)

Map shows detours for N.C. 115 and Catawba Avenue. Click to enlarge. Download a PDF below.

The new entrance to the Antiquity Cornelius development in downtown Cornelius is expected to open in late April, but utility work beginning next week means the existing intersection will have to close before it can open fully. N.C. 115 will be closed at Catawba Avenue Tuesday, March 16, through Thursday, March 25.

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The closing will require detours for traffic in both directions on N.C. 115 and Catawba Avenue. Detour routes have been marked on both sides of the railroad tracks, on Zion Street to the east and Mulberry and Oak streets on the west. (See the map.)

NEW WATER LINE

The closing will allow Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities to extend a 24-inch water line from the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks 75 feet to an existing line under Catawba Avenue. The work had been on CMU’s project list for some time, and the utility agreed to accelerate the timing to coordinate it with the completion of the Antiquity entrance, Cornelius Project Manager Doug Barrick said Wednesday.

Mr. Barrick said coordinating the work will avoid the need for new roadwork in the future. Besides the Town of Cornelius and CMU, the work involves Antiquity developer Venture Properties, Southern Site Developers, Norfolk Southern railroad, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Once the water line work is done, crews will still have “2 1/2 to 3 weeks of work” before the intersection can open. That includes installing new traffic signals mounted on metal mast-arm poles, installing new traffic islands, and re-striping lanes.

He said the Antiquity entrance is expected to open at the end of April.

The railroad crossing has already been constructed, extending Catawba Avenue into Antiquity. New crossing gates have been installed and the pavement level has been raised to allow for passage over the tracks. The rail line eventually may carry commuter trains to Charlotte in a project that Charlotte Area Transit System has dubbed the Red Line.

Antiquity is a mixed-use development of homes, shops and offices. Plans call for about 1,000 homes on the site eventually, as well as a phase of commercial buildings with retail stores and offices.

LINKS

Download a map showing the detours. (PDF), CLICK HERE>

More information is available on the Town of Cornelius Website.

Past coverage of Antiquity on DavidsonNews.net can be found under the “Antiquity Cornelius” tag.