Statesville, Troutman add to DOT wish list

Even with the knowledge that transportation funds are limited, elected officials from both Statesville and Troutman have added projects to the Long Range Transportation Plan being developed for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The action, taken at their January meetings, only ensures that the projects will be included in future planning documents. Whether they ever get done is another story.

“This endorsement will not guarantee that funding will be assigned to these projects, because it has been indicated that N.C. DOT construction funds will be limited for the next several years,” said Statesville planning commissioner David Currier. “However, it will ensure that these project needs are represented on DOT’s potential project list for serious funding consideration.”

These new projects join a list of previously submitted “favorites,” such as the widening of Interstate 77 from Exit 42 to Interstate 40, completion of the second phase of improvements at the I-77/I-40 interchange and widening of U.S. 21 in both Statesville and Troutman.

The newly submitted projects are:

Statesville

• Improvements to N.C. 115, from Garner Bagnal Boulevard southward, in conjunction with the city’s Streetscape/Land Use Master Plan.

• Widening Amity Hill Road from I-77 Exit 45 to Shelton Avenue.

• Realignment of Old Airport Road and Bethlehem Road.

• Access road from Old Mountain Road north to Hangar Drive at Statesville Regional Airport.

Troutman

• Widening Old Mountain Road from U.S. 21 to I-40.

• Extending Perry Road to Murdock Road to relieve congestion in downtown Troutman.

• Southwest Troutman bypass from U.S. 21 to Autumn Leaf Road.

• Widening Perth Road from U.S. 21 to the Mooresville Town Line.

Also at the Troutman Board’s Jan. 10 meeting, the aldermen unanimously approved two changes to local zoning laws that will permit developers to build homes on smaller plots than previously authorized under town zoning laws. The changes, known as text amendments, had been stalled for several months, but at the January meeting, previously reluctant town board members, such as J.T. Jablonski, explained to a packed audience that the changes would actually give the town board and its residents greater say on future developments.

There are two proposed developments – Falls Cove and Oak Creek – that can now proceed through the town’s regulatory process, according to Planning Director Erika Martin.

“Both proposals will now go to the Planning Board on January 22nd as rezoning applications,” she said. “The Planning Board will then make a recommendation to approve, approve with conditions, deny, or table the requests. If the requests don’t get tabled the recommendation will go before the full Town Board Feb.14.”