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:
-
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.
-
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.
-
The signals will also be part of our Transit priority
system which provides additional green time for CATS
vehicles that are running behind schedule.
-
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.
-
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.
|
To comment on this story, please visit the
Steele Creek Residents Association Facebook Page.
Click here:
to share this story to your Facebook page,
or click below to visit the Steele Creek Residents Association
Facebook page.
.
|