Lake area officials map out the future

Build a north-south connector road from Huntersville to Mooresville.

Widen Interstate 77 to eight lanes to Statesville. Build a pedestrian and bike trail from Charlotte to Mooresville.

Those were some of the leading recommendations made by dozens of Lake Norman-area elected officials and government planners this month for the Lake Norman Regional Transportation Commission to consider advocating to the state in the years ahead.

The commission arranged the transportation and land use summit at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in downtown Mooresville to get input on dealing with the region’s ongoing and future population growth.

The estimated 100 officials who attended the Jan. 17 meeting heard from Mooresville Mayor Pro Tem Mac Herring, N.C. Sen. Jeff Tarte, R-Cornelius, Jeff Michael, director of the UNC Charlotte Urban Land Institute and others.

Then they broke into small groups to brainstorm ways to improve transportation and maintain the area’s quality of life. They wrote out their ideas on large sheets of paper that they placed on a wall. Then everyone placed stickers beside the ideas they felt deserved the most attention.

•  On the topic of land use, officials most favored encouraging higher density development in the N.C. 115/I-77 corridor, developing more employment center space with the private sector, preserving more green space and creating the north-south connector road from Interstate 485 and Prosperity Church Road in Huntersville to Shearers Road in Mooresville.

The north-south connector road would hook into Mooresville’s planned east-west connector, which would link Langtree and Shearers roads.

•  As far as road needs, officials most backed widening I-77 from Charlotte to Mooresville and with general purpose lanes instead of the toll lanes the state has proposed.

•  Regarding bikes and pedestrians, officials most favored completing the Carolina Thread Trail in the lake region; building greenway bridge crossings over I-77 or in tunnels beneath the highway; and creating pedestrian-bike trails beside railroad tracks. The Thread Trail is a 15-county initiative to develop a system of trails and greenways linking 2.3 million residents of the Carolinas.

•  As for public transit, officials supported pressing for a final decision on whether to move ahead with the Red Line Regional Rail project, a proposed $452 million commuter rail line from Charlotte to southern Iredell County. They also supported encouraging more full-service buses in the region and considering hydrail for the Red Line if it happens. “Hydrail” refers to using hydrogen to power trains.

Bill Thunberg, commission executive director, said the commission will consider the ideas for inclusion in its plan of work. The commission includes elected officials and the town managers of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville.