Construction is everywhere around Lake Norman. These are the new projects.
Road construction and highway expansions are reshaping commutes across the Lake Norman region as officials race to keep pace with rapid population growth.
Here are key takeaways:
• Grading work has started on a 52,000-square-foot Lowes Foods grocery store beside the East West Connector in Mooresville, with phase 1 of the nearly mile-long highway about 75% complete and expected to open early or mid-next year.
• Two Davidson restaurants on South Main Street say a state road project has devastated business, with Habibi Lebanon Bar & Grill reporting a $20,000 drop in one month after Caton Construction Group closed the road in mid-March to install roundabouts, waterlines and drainage.
• Mooresville commissioners unanimously rejected annexing the Williamson Road Townhomes project on June 1, after an expert formerly with the Virginia DOT warned the 39-townhome development would worsen crash risk at a strained intersection on a 45-mph road.
• NCDOT is scheduled to award a $10.5 million contract in early 2027 to widen Williamson Road from Brawley School Road to N.C. 150, with a second $74.3 million contract for the stretch to Interstate 77 exit 33 set for fall 2027.
• A Lake Norman intersection near Lancaster’s BBQ and Wings reopened Monday, April 20, after a six-month closure, with developer M/I Homes of Charlotte building a new extension road that meets N.C. 150 at a 90-degree angle to improve sight distance.
• Charlotte contractor Blythe Development Inc. was awarded a $7.8 million contract to improve curvy Bailey Road in Cornelius, extending the road about a half-mile and building a roundabout at Bailey Road/Poole Place Drive, with work expected to finish in fall 2027.
• N.C. 115/Main Street closed Friday, March 13, as part of a $15 million traffic improvement project in Cornelius and Davidson that includes new roundabouts and a parallel route joining Potts, Sloan and Beaty streets.
• The $346 million I-485 toll lanes opened this year, providing 18 miles of express lanes in each direction between I-77 and Independence Boulevard, with toll rates set to shift to dynamic pricing within a year to maintain a minimum 45 mph speed.
• Charlotte has three of the worst truck bottlenecks in the country, with I-77 in Huntersville ranking 31st nationally and averaging a peak commuter hour speed of just 26.9 mph, according to the American Transportation Research Institute.
• Lane closures began Oct. 19 near the I-85 bridge over the South Fork Catawba River for a geotechnical investigation tied to the first $337 million stretch of a $1.5 billion I-85 widening that will eventually extend 10 miles to U.S. 321 in Gastonia.
• If Charlotte doesn’t want it, we do, Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney said of some of the $600 million in road money the Queen City gave up when it voted down Interstate 77 South toll lanes. His town, for instance, needs $35 million or $40 million from the state for a long-sought, $70 million to $80 million I-77 exit 38 interchange.