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The window for public comment is still open, but it's apparent the N.C. Turnpike Authority is now moving briskly with its plan for the Monroe Connector/Bypass.
The Turnpike Authority held a series of open houses and public hearings this month in Charlotte's southern suburbs and Union County to hear public input on a recommended route for the $755 million bypass. The window for public input will be open until June 15.
But Steven DeWitt, the Turnpike Authority's chief engineer, told a crowd at a public hearing May 21 that he hopes this is the last time officials will need to review the plans.
“We're one year away from financing and we hope to be ready,” he said at Wingate University.
The Turnpike Authority will select a final route late this year, after all the public comments have been received, analyzed and adjustments made. That selected route will go to the Federal Highway Administration. The goal is to get federal approval by next March with work starting in summer 2010.
There still are details to be worked out. But turnpike officials said they've heard one consistent message: get it done.
“People have waited a long time,” said Jennifer Harris, also an engineer with the Turnpike Authority.
The road has been talked about in Union County for decades.
After an extensive environmental study was finished this spring, the Turnpike Authority recommended a route. That route starts near the Mecklenburg-Union County border and follows the path of U.S. 74 for about a mile. Then the bypass veers northeast, crosses Union County and ends at an interchange that takes cars back onto U.S. 74 just west of Marshville.
Turnpike officials emphasize that input now is crucial because they will make some adjustments.
The bypass is designed to take traffic off heavily-used U.S. 74, which is one of the state's few roads that extends from the mountains to the coast. U.S. 74 is used by holiday drivers, beach traffic, and daily by commercial traffic and thousands of commuters.
The Monroe Connector/Bypass would be a 21-mile, four-lane toll road. However, it would be a toll road only until it's paid for, DeWitt said. That could take up 40 years.
The toll cost would be 15-20 cents per mile. Larger vehicles would pay more in toll fees than smaller vehicles. However, those details are being worked out. Harris said the authority is designing the road so people pay for the miles they drive.
Much of the focus of two public hearings was what the bypass would look like near the Mecklenburg-Union border. The authority recommends a ramp that leads to a 25-foot-tall bridge through the middle of Stallings, a town of close to 4,000 east of Charlotte.
The ramp would take drivers onto the bypass. A network of frontage roads would be used to access businesses.
Stallings' leaders don't particularly like the route, but are working with the Turnpike Authority to make it more palatable.
That discussion, like many others related to interchange sites and road closures, are ongoing.
