Skip to main content

Sign Error may delay I-485's opening in Charlotte

Hard to belive that I have yet to do any commentary on my second home of North Carolina and their transport issues until today.

From today's Charlotte Observer:

The opening of a little over two miles of I-485 in Northwest Mecklenburg County may be delayed because the steel structures that support overhead signs have yet to be constructed. The structures, which the overall design was approved by the state in May, are now being delayed by the steel fabricator who wants an additional $86,000 on top of the $242,000 budgetted by the state for them.

The delay could last anywhere from two weeks to three months, and no solution has been determined.

Commentary:

It looks like a game of "Not My Fault/Not My Job" is going on between NCDOT and McWhirther Grading. John Parker, who is the NCDOT engineer overseeing the I-485 project, claims that the state approved the designs in May, and the DOT did their part. Ken Stayley with McWhirther says that the state did not provide the specs for constructing the structures. Parker says it wasn't the state's responsibility.

So will someone please own up to what was wrong, come to a solution and move forward?!?! Better yet just say ok there was an error somewhere lets stop pointing fingers and fix it?!?!?! The comments by readers of this article in the Charlotte Observer were very hostile and cynical.

Also, throw in the fabricator for wanting another $86,000 (on top of $242,000) to create the structures. Parker doesn't feel it is the state's responsibility to pay the extra money. Nor does he think taxpayer money should go to it.

Well a lot of "not my faults" from the NCDOT, the contractor, and an un-named fabricator wanting more money. Residents say they don't need signs for two miles of road, they can figure it out on their own.

Stay tuned....

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...