Will Charlotte stop complaining about I-485 now?

Both the Triad and Triangle Business Journals last week published stories on the amount of funding for highway loops throughout the state of North Carolina. And when you look at the details, Charlotte doesn't have much to complain about.

In fact, Charlotte has the greatest percentage of their loop miles completed or funded within the state. At 93 %, or 68.4 of nearly 74 miles proposed, Charlotte is well ahead of other cities like Raleigh or Greensboro and miles beyond Durham, Asheville, or Winston-Salem which show zero miles funded/completed. (See figure at right.)

For years, residents and political leaders in the Charlotte area has complained about the lack of urgency in Raleigh to complete their loop. The reality of the chart shows that Charlotte is way ahead of any city within the state.

The root cause for the infighting between North Carolina cities for limited highway funds can be traced to the variety of funding mechanisms for transportation projects within the state. The Highway Trust Fund - which was created in 1989 - was slated to build loop projects throughout the state. Sadly over the years, Governor's and the State Assembly have raided the trust fund to balance the state budget. These raids have pushed back the funding availability on a number of projects that were ready to go over the past ten years.

Also, the state's 'equity formula', also enacted into law by the General Assembly in 1989, has been perhaps the biggest influence on how and more importantly where highway funds get spent. The equity formula requires - "that State Transportation Improvement Program funds be distributed equitably among regions of the state. Monetary distribution is based 50 percent on the population of a region, 25 percent on the number of miles of intrastate highways left to complete in a region and the remaining 25 percent is distributed equally among the regions for the STIP".

Though Urban Loop's are exempt from the formula, money for loop can come from these funds. In recent years, growth in the metropolitan areas has far outpaced rural areas; however, the equity formula has required that money be spent on rural highway projects. Leaders in Charlotte, and other cities, have complained about how rural projects are first in line - while needed projects in their city get kicked further down the line.

NC Secretary of Transportation Gene Conti has begun to shift the focus of NCDOT on needs vs. the various funding formulas. The NCDOT has begun to work on designing a new work stream that will focus on projects that can and will be done in a five year period vs. shuffling around projects on and off the funding lists.

Will that stop Charlotte residents complaining about the completion of Interstate 485? Of course not. The chart and accompanying stories show how competitive it is within North Carolina for limited highway funds. And that's something that won't change - no matter what the funding formula(s) or sources are.

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 ...

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...

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...

Anonymous said…

Adam, do you have any idea if the equity formula will be modified or dropped in the next few years? With rural areas losing clout in the state government to the more urbanized Piedmont, and the larger number of discontented voters voicing their concerns in the Piedmont, it seems likely to me that NCDOT and/or the General Assembly will want to alter this some way soon. That would be a shame for our rural areas of course, particularly in the east and west, but as an urbanite in the Triangle, I frankly think it needs to happen, as right now the major metropolitan areas just are not getting what they need if they want to continue to boom transportation-wise this century. Your thoughts?

9:15 AM

Adam said…

Great comment! I had to make a blog post about it!

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-thoughts-on-nc-transportation-equity.html

4:58 PM