Roundabouts, tolls, restricted access
April 1. By Juan Mortoque. Town leaders met this week to review a proposal from a Spanish subsidiary to turn Hwy. 21 into a toll road to help relieve congestion. The proposal would require the town to turn over ownership and management of the 2.6 mile stretch of road from Home Depot to West Catawba Avenue. Once cars enter the toll lanes they would not be able to exit until their final destination.
Construction would begin in August and the road would be closed for five years.
Numerous questions were raised by residents and businesses, such as how would you cross from the east to the west side of town? How would you access businesses like Home Depot? How would Atrium complete construction of the hospital buildings and how would you get to them? What about school bus routes given that all of the schools are on the west side of town?
All of the questions were met with the same answer from the newly-formed traffic task force.
“You’d have to park and walk.”
Last chance to ‘get it right’
Added chairperson Tom “Tow” Mater, who is on the task force despite residing in Troutman, said, “We feel like that’s a reasonable request given the long-term solution we’re providing to people who need to get from Charlotte to Mooresville and vice versa as fast as possible.”
The toll fees will change depending on amounts of traffic, but given current volume it’s expected to cost $12 each way.
“This is our last chance to get this right,” said a person affiliated with City Hall who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Someday our grandkids will be able to travel from Target to the ABC store in three minutes and it’ll only cost $24 round trip. That seems like a great solution to the traffic issues given that we don’t have any money.”
Roundabout Catch 2
Construction of the two roundabouts currently being built on Hwy. 21 will continue until completion even though they will be replaced as part of the proposal.
The meeting was a first for the newly-installed board of commissioners who replaced the five who resigned last month to pursue leadership positions with their HOA boards. The new board is composed entirely of third generation land owners.
In other business
The meeting also included the approval by a 5-0 vote for a $115 million plan to build 20-story skyscrapers that will be owned by the town and leased to commercial tenants.
—This content approved by the NC Commission on April Fools Baloney (NCAFB)
