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STEELE CREEK NEWS

New Signal at Choate Circle and Smith Road among Active Transportation Projects in Steele Creek

(April 29, 2019) Charlotte City Council Disrict 3 Representative LaWana Mayfield and city staff have provided a map of Active Transportation Projects in District 3 that city and state agencies are providing. An enlargement of the Steele Creek portion of the map is below. To view the entire map click HERE.  

The projects include a new traffic signal at Choate Circle and Smith Road as part of the Intelligent Transportation System.

Other projects are.

Traffic Signal Modification

Steele Creek Road and I-485 Ramps, Steele Creek Road and Hamilton Road, and South Tryon Street and Whitehall Commons Center Drive/Yager Creek Drive.

Intersection Capacity Enhancement

A traffic circle has been constructed at Shopton Road and Beam Road

North Carolina Department of Transportation Projects

Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road)/Hamilton Road Intersection: Construction of left and right turn lanes on all four legs of the intersection. NCDOT has awarded the contract to Blythe Development Company in the amount of $1,151,229.75. Completion is scheduled for August 2019. Click HERE to view detailed plans from NCDOT.

Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) Widening: The construction for the widening of Highway 160 from I-485 to the South Carolina state line (although the map shows this project ending at Brown-Grier Road) had been scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2021 (beginning July 2020), but the Draft State Transportation Improvement Program (which lists projects that will receive funding betwen 2020 and 2029) now shows right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation beginning in fiscal year 2021 and construction delayed until fiscal year 2024 (beginning July 2023). Total cost is projected to be $62,600,000. See State Releases Draft State Transportation Improvement Program for more details.

I-77 Widening: This project extends from the South Carolina state line to I-277/US 74 (Belk Freeway). Widen existing freeway to ten lanes by constructing managed (toll) lanes, reconstruct I-77/I-277 (Belk Freeway) interchange, and install ramp meters. Construction is expected to begin in fiscal year 2028. Total projected cost is $1,083,865,000.

Pedestrian Program

Charlotte has been constructing sidewalks along both sides of South Tryon Street between Steele Creek Road and Shopron Road West/Youngblood Road.

Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program

The City of Charlotte has included several projects in Steele Creek in its Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program (CNIP) for the Whitehall/Ayrsley area. These projects are funded through Charlotte Neighborhood Improvement Bonds.

Ayrsely Town Boulevard Improvements: Improve safety, traffic flow, and pedestrian access along Ayrsley Town Boulevard between South Tryon Street and Kings Parade Boulevard.

Brown-Grier Road Upgrades: Potential improvements between Steele Creek road and Whitehall Park Drive include additional lanes, medians, bicycle facilities, planting strips, sidewalks, and other amenities. Design work is underway, and the real estate acquisition phase is expected to start in mid-2019.

Sandy Porter Road/South Tryon Street Intersection Improvements: This project will make improvements to the intersection of Sandy Porter Road and South Tryon Street. Potential improvements include additional lanes, medians, bicycle facilities, planting strips and other amenities. Also included in this project are a sidewalk connection across one gap in the sidewalk on Sandy Porter Road north of Red Hickory Lane and the extension of sidewalks on Sandy Porter Road in front of Olympic High School from Brown-Grier Road to Williams Glen Road. The original plan was to make improvements along the length of Sandy Porter Road from South Tryon Street to Williams Glenn Road, but higher than expected costs for this and the Brown-Grier Road project resulted in cutbacks to the plans.

Westinghouse Boulevard Multiuse Trail: This project will construct a multiuse trail for bicyclists and pedestrians along Westinghouse Boulevard between South Tryon Street and Shopton Road West. Construction is expected to start by the end of 2019.

Street Lighting Program

This project is along South Tryon Street from Arrowood Road to Carowinds Boulevard.

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)

ITS provides high speed, high bandwidth communications between the city's central system traffic signal computer and the traffic signals all over the city. Traffic siganls along Steele Creek Road and Arrowood Road will be added to the system, and a new signal will be installed at Choate Circle and Smith Road See details from the Charlotte Department of Transportation below.

Intelligent Transportation System

The ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) projects within the City generally consist of the installation of fiber optic communications cables and traffic management cameras. The ITS projects that are planned for District 3 will tie into existing fiber cables that run all the way back to the Government Center. What that provides is high speed, high bandwidth communications between our central system traffic signal computer and the traffic signals all over the City. These projects help the citizens of Charlotte in these ways:

  1. The signals can be monitored for proper operation and corrections made when necessary, all from our Uptown Traffic Management Center, reducing response times to signal problems.
  2. The signals will now be part of our traffic signal Fire response system that provides green signals to CFD vehicles on calls, decreasing their response time during emergencies. 
  3. The signals will also be part of our Transit priority system which provides additional green time for CATS vehicles that are running behind schedule.
  4. This expands our traffic monitoring camera system which traffic engineers use to see exactly what is happening on our roads which helps them create better signal timing plans.
  5. This prepares our City for the future when signal information will be passed to drivers in their vehicles.

Specifically, for the three projects named, all of the benefits above will be realized. The Steele Creek Road ITS project will add 2 signals and 4 cameras to the system, the Arrowood Road ITS project will add 8 signals and 8 cameras to the system and the Choate Circle ITS project will add the new signal that is being installed at Choate Circle and Smith, as well as, one camera to the system. The new signal at Choate/Smith is being funded by a developer.

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