Earlier this year, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) Board requested the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) prepare a comparative analysis between a traditional toll and a Public Private Partnership (P3) delivery for additional lanes for the eleven-mile segment of I-77 running through the City of Charlotte and to the border of South Carolina. Results were presented by representatives of NCDOT at the August 21, 2024, Board Meeting (Agenda, Minutes – item 14, pages 5-8).
During last night’s Charlotte City Council business meeting, an update was provided by NCDOT containing highlights of its NCDOT: I-77 South Express Lanes Supplemental Report and next steps were discussed.
Some of the details of the project along with recommendations include:
Last night’s meeting was an informational one and the City Council will likely deliberate at next week’s meeting and determine if it can make a formal recommendation to the CRTPO on moving forward recommending a P3 engagement for the future expansion of I-77 South.
My take: Infrastructure improvements are an essential component to keeping our region economically competitive and contributes to an overall improvement in quality of life. Utilizing creative ways to fund those improvements has become one of the new ways forward and we support it. It seems simple, however, emotion gets in the way of these two simple choices: 1) Either we find a good partner and get the project built in the next several years with current value dollars, 2) Or we take our chances that funding will become available either from the state or federal level in the short to mid-term future, and build it when that happens, likely at a higher cost. These are the facts that we must focus on. Emotional decision-making won’t move us forward. Cooperation and conversations about real solutions will.
Charlotte Storm Water Services has updated the draft Stormwater Control Measure (SCM) Design Manual based on feedback provided over the past year. This draft update is available and may be found at:
Stormwater Control Measure (SCM) Design Manual – City of Charlotte
This draft contains feedback from the previous year’s use along with an increased allowance of compliance options for individual residential lot projects.
As has been the case over the previous year, designer’s may ‘opt in’ to use the draft SCM manual prior to its official adoption.
For additional questions please contact Andrew Poindexter, Senior Project Manager at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services at [email protected].
My take: This is a positive development that was frankly a long time in coming. Earlier in the process we had been assured by staff that “off the shelf” solutions to some of the new requirements being proposed would be made available. Those never materialized. The new stormwater regulations contained in Charlotte’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) have increased costs and will not accomplish the objectives they purport to seek. These proposed changes to the manual are an encouraging move in the right direction. As you can anticipate, there is still much to be done. That includes seeking a better understanding, for all of us, of how Charlotte exercises its own authority and whether that currently stays within the constraints imposed by state statute. — There will be more on that in the days to come.
BONUS: Tree Canopy Preservation Program Update Provided
During Monday’s Charlotte City Council Transportation, Planning, and Development Committee meeting, Chief Urban Forester Tim Porter provided an update to the committee on progress related to the Tree Canopy Action Plan 2.0. You can find the full presentation here and watch the video here.
My take: The presentation did not provide a lot of new information other than to point out there are a number of missing trees where, by rule, trees had been previously required. Porter, when pressed by Council on what happened to those trees, provided an interesting response. It was conceded the resulting loss was primarily due to life cycle and in some cases to site improvements such as the addition of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations and ATMs. EV charging stations? Anyone see the irony here? Also, Charlotte appears to still average at around 47% canopy coverage, which is substantial considering a city of its size.
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