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HUNTERSVILLE The highway engineer who oversees state roadwork in the Charlotte area says the No. 1 unfunded road priority five or more years out should be expanding Interstate 77 through Huntersville.
Widening 1-485 South comes in a close second, if not a tie, Barry Moose told the Observer.
"They could be priority 1A and 1B, because they're very close," Moose said.
Naming I-77 as his No. 1 future priority wouldn't affect any projects on the existing five-year road plan for the Charlotte region, including widening Independence Boulevard from Albemarle Road to Idlewild Road in Charlotte, Moose said.
He's recommending only that the I-77 expansion - widening by two lanes in both directions from I-485 to Huntersville Exit 25 near Birkdale Village - be next in line. The Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization will offer a recommendation as well, he said. The planning group oversees development of the transportation system in Mecklenburg and Union counties.
Expanding I-77 north first would be bound to annoy plenty of commuters battling rush-hour traffic daily on I-485's southern leg. Congestion bogged the road soon after the four lanes opened in the late 1980s; the stretch between South Boulevard and N.C. 51 handles 121,000 cars daily.
Lee Myers, chairman of MUMPO, said both the I-77 and I-485 widening projects should be examined equally to determine which project is less costly and which one relieves the most congestion.
"For me it's not about us saying one over the other. I know both of them are bad, both need attention," Myers said. "I need to know what each is going to cost."
Erin Bowman, who uses I-485 in south Charlotte to commute from her home in the Blakeney area near Ballantyne, uses a shortcut through roads in Steele Creek to avoid the beltway's afternoon rush from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
"I refuse to take 485 home in the evenings because of the back-ups where 77 and 485 junction," Bowman said. "If 485 was widened to three lanes from South Boulevard to Providence, it would make an unbelievable difference."
Moose said his recommendation "doesn't replace anything else" in the State Transportation Improvement Program. "We already have the five-year work plan," he said. "But we're looking strategically into the future."
He said he based his recommendation on congestion and safety. With all the growth over the years along the I-77 corridor in north Mecklenburg, "there's just a tremendous amount of traffic" that becomes gridlock, Moose said.
Expanding the I-77 stretch would cost $40 million to $50 million, he said. He said it's too early to speculate what year work could start. The estimate for widening I-485 to six lanes from I-77 to Johnston Road is up to $75 million.
Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain said the N.C. Department of Transportation, "from the top down, recognizes that north Mecklenburg's roads are overwhelmed, and Barry Moose's comment shows we need to move the traffic through our area faster."
Swain said widening the interstate should go "hand in hand" with the Charlotte Area Transit System extending commuter rail service to north Mecklenburg. The commuter rail project is vying for stimulus dollars with the extension of light-rail Lynx to University City area
