Skip to main content

Say what? A completed Garden Parkway could increase traffic on Interstate 85

Image
By
I had to read this story twice more just to make sure I read this right.

Recent traffic projections by the state show I-85 having more traffic on it in 2030 with the Garden Parkway built than if it wasn't.

Here are the figures:

AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic) in 2030:

I 85: US 321 to Gaston/Mecklenburg County Line -

With entire Garden Parkway Built - 137,600 vehicles
With Garden Parkway built to US 321 - 139,300 vehicles
With NONE of the Garden Parkway Built - 134,600 vehicles

Opponents of the Parkway see this new data as another piece of their argument in stopping the Parkway from being built.

Story Link:
'Garden Parkway' could actually increase traffic on I-85 --Gaston Gazette

Commentary:
This is definitely an interesting stat if you are against the highway. That along with the comparisons to the troubled Southern Connector in Greenville, SC start to make a persuasive argument - beyond typical NIMBY-ism - against the construction of this toll road.

A few things of note: First, the writer in the Gaston Gazette article fails to mention that the traffic increase on I-85 if the Garden Parkway is anywhere from 3,000 to 4,700 more vehicles per day, depending on how much of the parkway is built. So in reality, the estimated volumes would only be somewhere between 2.2 and 3.5% higher if the road is not built. It's not that much of an increase, but it certainly doesn't make sense.

Turnpike Authority officials say that the Garden Parkway isn't a 'fix' to I-85 traffic or even an alternative, but as said in the article - Its broader goal is to “establish connectivity and mobility across the Catawba River.” Well, wouldn't building a free highway bridge from Belmont over to I-485 do exactly that?

The thing is: the proposed highway is toll because of the cost. I've been reading $1.4 billion to $915 million. And about three years ago, the NCTA doubled the estimates of their original cost findings.

Details likes these makes it very easy to stick by my position that the only necessary part of this project is a US 321 Gastonia Bypass...and that was taken off the table from the original non-toll proposal..years ago.
Labels:

Comments

Froggie said…
There's a logical explanation for the weirdness. The traffic model is likely taking into account the increased development expected in Gastonia and Gaston County should the Garden Pkwy be built. THAT'S why I-85 traffic is expected to be higher, even with the Garden Pkwy present. Without the Garden Pkwy, there wouldn't be nearly as much push or desire to further develop Gaston County.
9:04 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deer Isle Bridge in Maine

By
As graceful a bridge that I ever set my eyes upon, the Deer Isle Bridge (officially known as the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge) surprisingly caught my eye as I was driving around coastal Maine one Saturday afternoon. About 35 miles south of Bangor, Maine , the Deer Isle Bridge connects the Blue Hill Peninsula of Downeast Maine with Little Deer Isle over the Eggemoggin Reach on ME 15 between the towns of Sedgwick and Deer Isle . It should be noted that Little Deer Isle is connected to Deer Isle by way of a boulder lined causeway, and there is a storied regatta that takes place on the Eggemoggin Reach each summer. But the Deer Isle Bridge holds many stories, not just for the vacationers who spend part of their summer on Deer Isle or in nearby Stonington , but for the residents throughout the years and the folks who have had a hand bringing this vital link to life.   The Deer Isle Bridge was designed by David Steinman and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville,
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 99 through Athlone and the last Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento corridor expressway

By
Athlone was a siding of the Southern Pacific Railroad located in Merced County on the alignment of what was US Route 99 between the cities of Chowchilla and Merced.  The Athlone corridor of US Route 99 was one of the first in San Joaquin Valley to fully upgraded to four lane expressway standards.  The Athlone expressway corridor was inherited by California State Route 99 when US Route 99 was truncated to Ashland, Oregon during June 1965.  The four-lane expressway through Athlone was the last segment of what had been US Route 99 in the Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento corridor to be bypassed by a freeway.  The Athlone expressway corridor was bypassed by the modern California State Route 99 freeway in 2016.  Despite being put on a road diet and narrowed what was the Athlone expressway corridor still displays evidence of being part of US Route 99.   Above the blog cover photo displays the Athlone expressway corridor of US Route 99 south of Merced as depicted in the July 1939 California Highways &
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 38

By
California State Route 38 is a fifty-nine-mile State Highway located entirety in San Bernardino County and a component of the Rim of the World Highway.  California State Route 38 begins at California State Route 18 at Bear Valley Dam of the San Bernardino Mountains and follows an easterly course on the north shore of Big Bear Lake.  California State Route 38 briefly multiplexes California State Route 18 near Baldwin Lake and branches east towards the 8,443-foot-high Onyx Summit.  From Onyx Summit the routing of California State Route 38 reverses course following a largely westward path through the San Bernardino Mountains towards a terminus at Interstate 10 in Redlands.   Pictured as the blog cover is California State Route 38 at Onyx Summit the day it opened to traffic on August 12th, 1961.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 38 California State Route 38 (CA 38) is generally considered to be the back way through the San Bernardino Mountains to Big Bear Lake of Bear Valley
Post a Comment
Read more