Conti: Garden Parkway still on table (Charlotte Observer)
The state’s top road-building official said today that the federal government will decide in two or three months whether Gaston County’s Garden Parkway can be built, and that construction on the toll road could begin in a year.
N.C. Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said at the Regional Roads Conference at Carowinds that all or part of the $1 billion highway could open for traffic by 2014.
The 20-mile toll road from Charlotte to western Gaston County has been discussed for decades, and some Gaston residents have wondered whether it would ever be built. Last year, Conti said he was concerned whether the road would generate enough toll revenue to be financed, but he said Friday he thinks it will move forward.
“Our financial advisors have put together a good package,” Conti said.
The Garden Parkway would begin at Interstate 485, just south of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. It would cross the Catawba River and then cut through south Gaston County, a mostly rural area. It will then turn north southwest of Gastonia and connect with I-85 west of the city.
The N.C. Turnpike Authority has scaled back parts of the project to save money.
The toll road was originally supposed to have six lanes total across the Catawba River, but it has been reduced to four lanes total. The footprint of intersections has shrunk, and one intersection at Bud Wilson Road has been eliminated. West of U.S. 321, the highway will shrink from four lanes to two lanes but it will still be a limited-access highway.
The Turnpike Authority had considered building the toll road in phases, and stopping at U.S. 321. But Gaston residents said they worried that would dump truck traffic on U.S. 321.
Reid Simons of the N.C. Turnpike Authority said the changes have saved $300 million.
The Garden Parkway is controversial. Some Gaston residents worry that it will destroy a mostly rural area, some transportation experts have questioned whether it’s the best use of $1 billion.
Promoters say the toll road will take traffic from I-85 and open up south Gaston for development.
In addition to the Garden Parkway, there are several other Charlotte-area highway projects slated to be built in the two or three years. The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to finish I-485 in northeast Charlotte; widen I-85 in Cabarrus County; and build a toll road in Union County, the Monroe Connector/Bypass.
The state is also replacing the I-85 Yadkin River bridge, about 45 miles northeast of Charlotte.
By Steve Harrison
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Friday, Aug. 27, 2010
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/08/27/1647334/conti-garden-parway-still-on-table.html#ixzz0y5uy5qSO
