I-77 toll lanes and other projects that will be happening around Charlotte in 2019
Charlotte will see its share of major highway projects opening to traffic in 2019, while other road construction will just begin.
Interstate 77 toll lanes from Charlotte to Mooresville are finally expected to open, along with several major projects that state and city of Charlotte highway officials say are intended to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians.
Those projects include the state’s first Continuous Flow Intersection, at notoriously backed-up Brookshire Boulevard and Mount Holly-Huntersville Road, and a bridge on Sugar Creek Road over North Carolina Railroad Co. tracks to eliminate train-car collisions.
Interstate 85 road surface repairs are scheduled in the new year, and improvements to 22 bridges on I-277 to make for a smoother drive. The last of five Beatties Ford Road pedestrian crossings is expected to be installed in 2019, while construction of a 25th Street bridge is scheduled to begin.
Here’s more on those and several other projects:
North Carolina’s first Continuous Flow Intersection
The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans to open the state’s first Continuous Flow Intersection at traffic-clogged, wreck-prone Brookshire Boulevard and Mount Holly-Huntersville Road.
The design has reduced wrecks and eased traffic at dangerous intersections in other states, NCDOT says in a video showing how traffic flows through the new type of intersection. The design does so by redirecting some or all left turns at the intersection.
Traffic on Brookshire Boulevard-N.C. 16 averages 46,000 vehicles a day, and 12,000 to 16,000 per day on Mount Holly-Huntersville Road approaching the intersection, NCDOT said in a Dec. 14 email to The Charlotte Observer.
The $7.2 million project is opening to traffic in the spring, about a year after being awarded to Blythe Construction Co., according to the DOT email.
Interstate 77 toll lanes
The $647 million project was scheduled to be completed late in 2018, but instead will open in 2019, according to I-77 Mobility Partners, the subsidiary of Spain-based contractor Cintra.
Work started on the lanes from Lake Norman to Charlotte in November 2015.
Most of the northern section of the 26-mile project was expected to finish by the end of 2018, but the government added additional work, according to the NCDOT and I-77 Mobility Partners. Bad weather also contributed to the delay, officials said.
Additional work included pavement repair on I-77’s free lanes, the NCDOT and I-77 Mobility Partners have said.
Also, in 2017, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization requested and approved direct connections from I-77 bridges at Lakeview Road and Hambright Road to and from toll lanes in both directions.
The contractor’s new timetable, announced Dec. 19, is still ahead of the October 2019 contract deadline with NCDOT, Javier Tamargo, CEO of I-77 Mobility Partners, said in a statement.
I-77 Mobility Partners “set an ambitious goal for itself to open lanes by the end of 2018,” Tamargo said in the Dec. 19 statement. “In collaboration with Sugar Creek Construction and NCDOT, we have made significant progress to improve this important corridor.”
The project is being funded primarily by I-77 Mobility Partners, the subsidiary of Spain-based private contractor Cintra that’s building the lanes, related bridges and other work, and will manage them when they open.
I-277 bridge work
Crews began temporarily closing lanes on Interstate 277 in uptown Charlotte in late November for a $16.3 million N.C. DOT project to improve 22 bridges and make for a smoother ride.
The bridges are between 10th Street and I-77 at the John Belk Freeway.
Work began in summer 2017 and will continue through fall 2019, the NCDOT’s Dec. 14 email said.
Work varies at each bridge and includes repairs, painting and adding epoxy overlay or concrete on bridge decks for a better ride, according to NCDOT.
Sugar Creek Bridge
To eliminate the chance of wrecks between trains and cars, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is completing a bridge on Sugar Creek Road over North Carolina Railroad Co. tracks.
The tracks are part of the main rail line from Raleigh to Charlotte, one of the busiest corridors in the state, according to NCDOT.
More than 30 Norfolk Southern freight trains and eight Amtrak trains travel daily between Raleigh and Charlotte, Jen Thompson, communications officer for NCDOT Highway Division 10, wrote in the DOT’s Dec. 14 email.
The number of freight trains is expected to double in the next 20 years, and “up to 20 total passenger train trips are expected by 2035,” according to the DOT.
The $43 million project is being paid for by the city of Charlotte, North Carolina Railroad Co., Norfolk Southern, the Federal Railroad Administration and NCDOT.
Construction started in spring 2016, and the contractor is working to install bridge rail and lighting before the span opens in the first quarter of 2019, the NCDOT’s email said.
The only thing left is adding final surface to related road work, which is set for spring, according to the DOT.
North Graham Street Extension
The $25.4-million project will extend North Graham Street 2.9 miles from West Sugar Creek Road to Mallard Creek Road and Morris Estate Drive.
The project aims to reduce wrecks while making for quicker, easier access to businesses and homes, Thompson wrote in the NCDOT’s Dec. 14 email.
From where it will intersect North Graham Street, Mallard Creek Road also will be widened from two lanes to four to West W.T. Harris Boulevard, the DOT said. Between West Sugar Creek Road and Morris Estate Drive, Mallard Creek Road will remain two lanes.
Work also includes connecting Mallard Creek Road at Baucom Road with IBM Drive.
NCDOT timed the work with the city of Charlotte extending University City Boulevard to the new Mallard Creek Road alignment.
Charlotte DOT’s signal contractor recently hung signal heads at Hubbard Road/Mallard Creek Road, NCDOT said in its email.
“Additional progress has been made at the future intersection of Nevin Road and the new North Graham Street alignment, with the pouring of concrete medians on the new alignment approaching the intersection,” Thompson wrote in the email. “Traffic shifts have also taken place along North Graham Street and West Sugar Creek to continue widening work at the intersection.”
Lawyers Road roundabout
Remaining work on the $1.6 million roundabout at Lawyers Road and Bain School Road in Mint Hill includes paving and installing concrete islands, according to NCDOT.
“Because most of the work requires warmer temperatures, the weather will be a factor in completion,” Thompson wrote in the Dec. 14 email.
I-85 road surface repairs
The state DOT is spending $10.6 million to replace “aged, embrittled or cracked” sections of Interstate 85 along 7.8 miles from Brookshire Boulevard to Moores Chapel Road.
“The pavement thickness may also be increased to strengthen existing sections to accommodate current and future traffic volumes,” DOT officials said in the Dec. 14 email to The Charlotte Observer.
Work will continue into fall 2019, according to the DOT.
Rocky River Road West improvements
Construction is expected to begin on numerous improvements to Rocky River Road West from North Tryon Street to Mecklenburg County’s Toby Creek Greenway and Charlotte’s Cross Charlotte Trail, according to a summary of the project on the city of Charlotte’s website.
The $11.72 million Rocky River Road West “streetscape” project is intended in part to make it safer for walkers and bicyclists to get from the Autumnwood neighborhood area to the Lynx Blue Line University City Boulevard Station and a CATS bus stop on North Tryon Street, according to the city’s online project summary page.
Expect “a modern, complete street” with “upgraded sidewalks, pedestrian (shelters), bike lanes, planting strips, street lighting and street trees” on Rocky River Road West, according to the website.
Rocky River Road West will be realigned to improve curves, turning lanes and drivers’ ability to see ahead. Mid-block pedestrian crossings will be added in the median of Rocky River Road West.
City officials hope the improvements also will “help encourage students to walk or ride their bicycles to the recently constructed Newell Elementary School,” the city’s website states.
An expected completion date has yet to be announced.
25th Street connector bridge
Construction of a 25th Street bridge over Upper Little Sugar Creek is expected to begin in mid-2019, according to the city of Charlotte’s online project page.
The bridge is intended to improve access to the Villa Heights neighborhood and the 25th Street light rail station and connect Brevard Street to North Davidson Street, according to the city’s project page. The bridge is expected to open in 2020, according to Tabitha Carnes Warren, senior public information specialist with the city of Charlotte’s engineering and property management department.
Voter-approved 2014 bonds will pay for the $8.7 million project, according to the city.
Orr Road extension
Orr Road is scheduled to be extended from North Tryon Street to Dawn Circle and Austin Drive beginning in early to mid-2019, the city of Charlotte says on its online page summarizing the $3.47 million project.
The two-lane extension will provide “full turning” at Orr Road and North Tryon Street at the Lynx Blue Line and improve access to the Hidden Valley neighborhood and Lynx Old Concord Road Station, according to the city’s website.
The project will include bike lanes, curb and gutter, sidewalks, a planting strip and street trees.
Work should finish by the end of 2019, contingent on weather “or other unforeseen circumstances,” Carnes Warren wrote in a Dec. 19 email to the Observer.
Beatties Ford Road pedestrian crossings
Construction of the last of five pedestrian crossings on Beatties Ford Road between Capps Hill Mine Road and Interstate 85 South is expected to begin in early 2019 and finish by April, according to Charlotte’s website.
The crossings will have cost a total of $135,000, according to the website.
New Michael Baker Place bridge
Construction of a $2.6 million bridge to replace a 60-year-old span over Briar Creek is expected to finish in April, according to Charlotte’s website. Michael Baker Place is between Selwyn Avenue and Runnymede Lane.
This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 10:44 AM.