BY DAVE YOCHUM

Keeping up with traffic in Cornelius is more than driving the speed limit. It’s a big part of how our growth machine of a town will take shape down the road as well as how residents will view their town’s leadership in years to come.

While there are relatively small issues — lowering the speed limit on Jetton Road extension to 25 mph was accomplished last month — there are Hummer-sized issues involving roads and connectivity in Cornelius. This, after spending more than $12 million to widen and beautify West Catawba Avenue, the principal east-west artery in Cornelius.

Cornelius is expected to grow by another 10,000 or more people, meaning more traffic and congestion. Managing  roads, especially in residential areas, is a tall order. Some long-time residents and business owners say decisions made in the past have favored developers more so than those who live here.

On the road ahead:

• The area around Catawba Avenue at Main Street in Antiquity will be built out with retail and office. The intersection has all new lights; all above-ground utilities were expected to be removed by the end of June.

But, with the new crossing over the Norfolk & Southern Railroad tracks, two nearby crossings will be removed. In the coming weeks the Railroad Street crossing near New Method Cleaners will be closed.

The crossing at Smith Road, one of the main entrances to Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, will also be closed — permanently.

Mayor Jeff Tarte said the crossings will likely be barricaded at the beginning of July and then grassed over, leaving no trace of intersections that date back hundreds of years.

Tarte said the closings have to do with contractual agreements with the railroad. If there are too many crossings within a short distance, trains can’t move efficiently down a rail corridor. The powers that be in Cornelius years ago opted for the Antiquity development, understanding back then that older crossings would be closed.

• By now, everyone knows the Diverging Diamond interchange is the next greatest thing for Catawba Avenue at I-77. Surveying work is already complete and the N.C. Department of Transportation is working on design and engineering. Public meetings are being scheduled toward the end of 2010, according to Town Manager Anthony Roberts.

But the $5 million project begs the question of precisely when to improve the roads around the bridge, namely Torrence Chapel and Highway 21 and even Hill Street in Smithville. The best answer seems to be simultaneously.

It’s logical to consider combining the projects to get the best price on construction, according to Lynette Rinker, a member of the Town Commission.

“The diverging diamond intersection would likely be most effective with improving those intersections (Hwy. 21 and Torrence Chapel) at the same time,” Rinker said.

The area now is congested and accident-prone, with too many intersections too close to I-77. One logical change, according to Tarte, is preventing left turns out of the McDonald’s restaurant on to Catawba.

Likewise, the stop lights at Hwy. 21 are considered too close to I-77, causing traffic jams. One idea being discussed is rerouting 21 along Hill Street, bringing the intersection farther east. According to Tarte, new roundabouts —  traffic circles like those near Exit 30 in Davidson — could revolutionize traffic at Hwy. 21 and Torrence Chapel. State officials are getting behind the idea of roundabouts for Cornelius, Tarte said.

Construction could begin sometime in 2012 if all the approvals go through. The town’s fund balance will help foot the bill at a time when there’s virtually no new state money for road improvements.

It’s likely that cars leaving Cashions won’t be able to turn left, Tarte said. Trees and homes might be affected by a roundabout or traffic circle at what is now Hill and Catawba Avenue, he explained. “But you have to bite the bullet once. Where is the best place for a roundabout?” There are hard choices to be made in road management and traffic circles.

Recently, $2 million of the town’s $11 million budget surplus has been set aside for road improvements. “We’re paying for it instead of borrowing for it,” Tarte said.

Because the diverging diamond is considered such an important project, it means some other projects will fall further out in time. Improving West Catawba Avenue past Jetton is likely five years out, Tarte said, especially if improvements to Hwy. 21 and Torrence Chapel are done at the same time as the diverging diamond.

Connectivity: Bumps ahead

Connectivity — another way of saying that some roads will likely be widened, straightened out or connected to other roads — is a divisive issue. The new lights are up at Washam Potts and Hwy. 115, a signal, perhaps, that Washam Potts may someday be widened to improve traffic flow between the east and west sides of Cornelius. Another local artery high on the list for improvements: Bailey Road.

Dead-end roads and cul de sacs that can be opened to nearby thoroughfares are high priorities, too, Tarte said. They’ll be looked at on a case by case basis, but some extensions are likely, including Knox Road connecting to the west past Henderson Road, on to Bethel Church Road and even Nantz Road. Likewise, Rosalyn Glen Road near Edinburgh Drive is a likely candidate to be extended over to West Catawba, as well as extending Floral Lane to Hwy. 21, according to the mayor.

In a broad design and urban planning sense, new cul de sacs are out. Existing dead-end streets make driving the car a necessity, funneling traffic to already congested main roads, creating bottlenecks. At least that’s how contemporary thinking goes in the age of connectivity. Dead-end streets and cul de sacs concentrate traffic on thoroughfares.

Managing traffic, congestion

The Cornelius Transportation Advisory Board came back to life in June, after months of inactivity and not a lot of guidance. The TAB will advise the Town Commission on road issues — a huge undertaking in a fast-growth community.

Chair Woody Washam says one of the first topics to be discussed is the impact on Zion Street of the proposed Autumn Care Facility on property owned by Mt. Zion Methodist. Without the Smith Road crossing, traffic will change dramaticaly. It has been a farm-to-market road for literally centuries, as well as the principal point of entry for a historic church with hundreds of members. Despite that, Smith Road’s connectivity to Main Street will go the way of Pontiacs, Mercurys and Plymouths.

“One of our primary focuses will indeed be connectivity,” Washam said, crediting Commissioner Rinker for bringing all sides of the connectivity issue to the forefront.

But opening a dead-end street to a nearby street can change the character of an established neighborhood.

“The old neighborhoods in Cornelius are near and dear to many people, so [connectivity] can invoke a lot of change … that will be one of the focuses of the advisory board,” Washam said.

“The issue will be a tough one,” Washam said. Decisions involving rail crossings were made years ago by previous town boards. “We have some deep issues going on, very emotional to those of us who have been around a long time. You can look at a textbook solution, or a solution that satisfies people who have time invested in the community. You have to balance that somehow,” he said.

The next meeting of the Transportation Advisory Board is July 20 at Town Hall. It is open to the public.
Laundry hard pressed

Mike Rogers has owned and operated New Method Laundry and Cleaners on Zion Street for almost 30 years.

Railroad Street has brought customers almost directly to his front door since the business opened in 1922. With the  imminent closing of the Railroad Street crossing, customers will have to drive into the new entrance to Antiquity making a couple of lefts before they reach the back side of the New Method building which began its life as a livery before becoming an early Ford dealer, according to Rogers.

While he said customers will stick with him over the short term, he’s worried about the long-term impact of the closing. “Over the long term it will make a big difference — more limited access, harder to get to, not quite as convenient, even though we are a convenience kind of business,” Rogers said. “This will limit new customers.”

In fact, Rogers has listed his property for sale. He said he is also looking into filing a lawsuit based on the diminished value of his property, which starting in July, will be far from a main road for the first time in a century.

Rinker is pragmatic about the inevitability of growth, but she said existing neighborhoods should be respected at the same time. She wrote a white paper that has gained traction with some people on the Transportation Advisory Board and others in town government, but not all.

Among her key points:

1. The capacity of existing arterial roads should be maximized before any neighborhood connectivity is attempted. Road investments should be directed here first for the biggest bang for the buck.

2. The preservation of the character, safety and livability of the existing neighborhood be first and foremost.

3. All connections through neighborhoods should be either a collector or preferably a local road that services neighborhood to neighborhood traffic rather than through traffic.  Creating direct north-south or east-west arterial connectivity through existing neighborhoods — where currently no connectivity exists — should be taken off the table.

4. That connections should be designed so as to limit speed (no more than 25 mph) and cut through traffic by employing a traffic calming program which considers the entire neighborhood, not just a single street.

Volume must be appropriate to the street and neighborhood.

“Existing neighborhoods should be protected by seamlessly integrating the inevitable growth into the fabric of the town,” Rinker said. “What we’ve had before is connectivity via Google maps, the shortest method of connectivity via Google.”

She is calling for a set of “inviolate principals” around connectivity. “That’s where you go back to protecting existing neighborhoods. Once you do that then decisions are made within the framework of those inviolate principals,” Rinker said.

Such principals could include forbidding new roads through parks or new roads that make existing schools un-walkable.