I-485 plan: Contractors will help pay the cost
By: By Mark Johnson and Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
Published: Sun, 11/08 @ 6:07PM
Contractors will help pay the cost of completing the Interstate 485 loop around Charlotte, then will be reimbursed by the state, according to a plan announced Monday morning by Gov. Bev Perdue.
Perdue announced the plan during a news conference on an unfinished portion of the outerbelt, saying the roadway could be finished by 2014 or 2015.
She said the proposal is innovative for North Carolina but has been used elsewhere in the country.
The plan -- called design-build-finance -- offers a streamlined schedule for construction of the unfinished section of the loop, between N.C. 115 and Interstate 85 in northeast Charlotte. The price tag is estimated at $220 million.
"This plan saves time, saves money for North Carolina taxpayers ... and shows that North Carolina can and will develop new ways of moving forward," Perdue said.
Typically, she said, road projects are design-build, with the contractor responsible for designing and building the roadway. Under the plan announced Monday morning, contractors also would help pay for the construction before being reimbursed.
State officials had said completing the outerbelt soon would be impossible, because the state did not have money for the project.
In the morning news conference, Perdue said she told state officials earlier this year to find a solution for the budgeting problem. "I said simply, 'I want it done -- and the people of North Carolina want it done,' " she said.
The financing method has never been used in North Carolina, and it won't touch money set aside for scheduled improvements to Independence Boulevard or any other local project, according to Chrissy Pearson, Perdue's press secretary and a city official who didn't want to be identified.
Prior to this morning's news conference, Charlotte Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx, said he didn't know many details of the funding plan. But he said completing the loop would "not only help with mobility in the region" but also help repair historically strained relations between Charlotte and state leaders in Raleigh.
Outgoing Mayor Pat McCrory - who was Perdue's Republican opponent in last year's election - said Sunday he didn't have many details, either. But he said he was proud of the teamwork between city and state officials that led to today's announcement.
He said he was pleased the plan would "make sure the project is not completed by stealing money from other projects. The governor's office heard that message loud and clear."
Construction on the 65-mile loop began in 1988 and was scheduled to be finished by 2003. But delays and competition for money from other cities kept pushing out the completion date..
The delays came as Charlotte's population and traffic multiplied, infuriating drivers and feeding a lingering sense that the city gets shortchanged by state leaders in Raleigh.
During her campaign last year, Perdue, a Democrat from the coastal city of New Bern, pledged a closer relationship with Charlotte. In February, she visited the city and promised construction on the unfinished portion of the loop would start by the end of the year.
The promise was met with a mix of celebration and skepticism.
The economy then nosedived and state revenue tanked along with it. Within a matter of weeks, Perdue's administration was edging back from the promise.
State officials in May proposed paying for the last segment of the loop - expected to carry 130,000 cars a day by 2030 - by sacrificing money for Independence Boulevard.
Local officials vehemently rejected the idea.
During a September interview, Perdue seemed to express frustration at the feedback from Charlotte. "When I was campaigning, all I heard was '485, 485, 485.' I never heard 'Independence Boulevard,'" she said.
Days later, though, she emphasized that she was pushing her transportation department to craft an agreeable plan to finish the loop.
Observer staff writer Steve Lyttle contributed.
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