Gribblenation

Interstate 277 around Uptown Charlotte can be an adventure. From backed-up traffic and crazy merges to slaloming through lane changes, I-277 is one of Charlotte's most talked-about highways. One of its most challenging interchanges has been memorialized in a video game . There are also proposals to turn the urban Interstate into a river . And on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, they run a 10k on it . If you've ever been struck in traffic on Inner I-277 between Graham Street and I-77, you may have wondered what this ramp stub was for. (Adam Prince - March 2019) I-277 isn't a long highway, running at just under 4.5 miles. It offers great views of the skyline and of the constantly changing cityscape. And I will admit, I'll sometimes drive around 277 just to get a view of the growing city. Above: The former North Graham Street ramp is located in the top center of the aerial photograph.  The long ramp was removed around 2005 to make way for Music Factory Boulevard and apar...

North Carolina's passenger rail system had a record year in 2022.  Quickly bouncing back from the drastic drop in ridership during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Raleigh-to-Charlotte service saw a record of over 522,000 riders in 2022.  The four-times daily route (three on the Piedmont service and one on the Carolinian that continues to New York City) also had a record-breaking month of 55,493 travelers in October.  The overall ridership numbers within the state do not include passengers that utilized stations on other intercity lines that run through the state. (Silver Star, Crescent, Palmetto, and Silver Meteor) A Southbound Piedmont Train approaches the Durham Train Station.  More riders used the NCDOT-sponsored Piedmont service in 2022 than any other year prior. NC by Train celebrated the completion of the first phase of Charlotte's Gateway Station.  The first test runs to the Uptown Charlotte station occurred in November.  The new station will not be ready...

....if the stars align. Earlier this week, the Charlotte Ledger had a story about the possible extension of the I-77 Toll Lanes south to the South Carolina line.  Recently, Cintra, the company that built the toll lanes from Uptown Charlotte to Mooresville, submitted an unsolicited bid to construct and operate the toll lanes themselves . Cintra says that if awarded a contract, they could have the toll lanes up and running by 2029. They would then operate the toll lanes on a 50-year lease.  NCDOT says it would be in 2029 that they could begin to acquire the right of way.  NCDOT also estimated it would take another 15 years to secure all the funding necessary to start construction.  Apparently, the state has rules on the available amount of money that can go to a specific project or corridor at one time. This news led to major heartburn for local leaders, who conceded that on a road that currently averages 160,000 vehicles per day with traffic at or above capacity seve...

When I posted about NCDOT receiving unsolicited plans for toll-managed lanes along I-77 from the Berkshire Freeway to the South Carolina State Line, a few commenters in various forums said it was obvious who the "anonymous" bidder was.  It would be Cintra - the same firm that built the infamous I-77 Express Lanes north towards Lake Norman. Well, they were right.  It was Cintra that submitted the proposal - and WCNC-TV in Charlotte was able to get a look at it.   The CINTRA proposal would build 9.4 miles of toll lanes at the cost of $2.3 Billion (with a B).  This proposal would include two tolled express lanes.  Cintra would not add any general purpose lanes to Interstate 77 - something that was and continues to be a sticking point with North Mecklenburg residents. The plan would be to start construction in 2024 and complete the project in 2029.  Of course, that is, if the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) approves and re...

Today, the major pieces of Charlotte's highway network include the Outerbelt (I-485), Interstates 77 and 85, and the Brookshire and Belk Freeways (I-277), but nearly sixty years ago Charlotte's first major urban highway project would begin.  The construction of Independence Boulevard in the 1940s and early 1950s would give Charlotte and North Carolina its first urban expressway, and would usher in a new era of highway building throughout the state.   With the help of former mayor, Ben Douglas - who sat on the State Highway Commission in the 1940s - the push for building Independence Blvd. began.  In 1946, city residents passed a $200,000 bond issue that would go along with over $2 million in federal funding.  The highway would open in two stages in 1949 and 1950.  When a grade separated interchange was built at South Blvd. and Morehead St. in the mid 1950s, Independence Blvd. was completed. (1)  Although the highway was not a fully controlled access hig...