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STEELE CREEK NEWS

Highway 160Highway 160 Projects Move up on Funding Schedule
Public Comment Period is Open

(July 1, 2015) Two Highway 160 construction projects have moved up in the schedule in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which was approved by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in early June. Funding is now committed on these projects, with right-of-way acquisition expected to begin within the next five year period.

   Project    Start Date in
   Draft STIP
   December 2014
   Start Date in
   Approved STIP
   June 2015
   Improvements to
   Highway 160/Hamilton
   Road Intersection
   2019    2018
   Widening Highway 160
   from Shopton Road W
   to S Tryon Street
   2022    2020

A third Highway 160 project will be evaluated for prioritization for possible inclusion in the next round of funding.

Highway 160The two Highway 160 projects included in the funding plan are listed on Page 19 of the Division 10 STIP.

Intersection of Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) and Hamilton Road

Widen intersection of NC Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) and Hamilton Road for additional capacity consistent with the future Steele Creek Road cross section.

FY 2018 - Right-of-Way acquisition - $315,000
FY 2020 - Construction - $1,300,000

This project was added to the initial Draft TIP by the local NCDOT office after the widening of Highway 160 from S Tryon Street to the South Carolina line did not score sufficiently for funding consideration. The conditions at this intersection allowed it to score high on its own merit.

NCDOT staff recognized that this was a high-priority project, and they were able to move the project forward. The project will include widening Highway 160 to the north and south of Hamilton Road for a sufficient distance to provide lanes adequate to handle traffic turning onto Hamilton Road.

Highway 160Some turn lanes were added last year by a developer.

Lennar Homes will be required to make additional improvements due to the increased traffic expected to be generated by a new residential development to the east around River Gate Elementary School.

The Lennar property includes over 350 acres zoned for 3 houses per acre and could possibly accommodate over 1000 homes (See area shaded in purple to the right.)

Lennar will be required to construct a left turn lane on southbound Highway 160 and restripe the southbound right turn lane as a through right. The northbound approach will mirror the southbound. Also an eastbound left turn lane on Hamilton will be constructed. This work is considered a part of their phase II requirements and will occur before the 101st subdivision lot is sold.

Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) from Shopton Road W to S Tryon Street

This 4.2 mile widening project extends along Steele Creek Rd from Shopton Rd West to South Tryon St (NC Highway 49) in Charlotte. Improvements include widening the existing roadway from two (2) lanes to four (4) lanes and installing bike lanes and sidewalks.

FY 2020 - Right-of-Way acquisition $3,100,00
               Utility relocation $4,600,000
FY 2022 - Construction $15,650,000
FY 2023 - Construction $15,650,000

Charlotte Regional Planning Organization (CRTPO) and NCDOT-Division 10 staff emphasized that it was very important to have the Highway 160 widening project as a committed project (in the first five years of the STIP), and the schedule was accelerated to have right-of-way acquisition occur in 2020. Projects scheduled to start after the first five years of the STIP are not considered committed and are subject to reprioritization.

Although the NCDOT has approved the State TIP, CRTPO must also approve the local TIP for the CRTPO region, which should be identical to the STIP by the time of CRTPO's expected approval in August. An official federal approval of the program is anticipated to occur prior to October 1, 2015.

Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) from S Tryon Street to the South Carolina State Line

This 2.2 mile widening project extends along Steele Creek Rd from South Tryon Street (NC Highway 49) to the South Carolina state line. Improvements include widening the existing roadway from two (2) lanes to four (4) lanes and installing bike lanes and sidewalks.

This project was included in the CRTPO Metropolitan Transportation Plan for completion by Horizon Year 2025, but it did not score well enough in the Prioritization 3.0 process to be included in the latest STIP. NCDOT staff separately evaluated the Hamilton Road intersection, which did score well enough for improvements to that intersection to qualify for inclusion in the STIP.

Projects that were not included in the first five years of the STIP and thus are not considered committed, must be identified for inclusion in the next round of prioritization (Prioritization 4.0) and then score well enough for inclusion in the next STIP update, which will be released in two years.

NC DOT is trying to limit the number of projects evaluated for Prioritization 4.0 and has imposed strict restrictions on which projects to include. This segment qualifies for reprioritization because it is considered a sibling project to the other two committed Highway 160 projects.

South Carolina is planning to widen SC Highway 160 from Gold Hill Road near Tega Cay to the North Carolina state line. According lists available on the Rick Hill - Fort Mill Area Transportation Study web site, they should be acquiring right-of-way now and begin construction in 2015 or 2016. These plans cannot be factored into North Carolina's Prioritization 4.0 until the construction is actually complete and traffic is flowing on four lanes in South Carolina.

Public Comment Period

CRTPO announced today in the press release below that it will be accepting comments to the Draft TIP, amendments to the 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, and the Air Quality Conformity Determination Report until July 31. Interested persons may also give comments in person at the CRTPO meeting on Wednesday, July 15 as described in the press release.

Although the announcement specifies that people may submit input on certain topics related to the TIP, CRTPO is  hoping to receive any and all types of comments on the projects in the TIP and projects that residents may like to see in future rounds of Prioritization (P4.0 starting this summer).

Residents may consider submitting comments
1) in support of continued inclusion of the two Highway 160 projects that are in the first five years (committed section) of the TIP, and
2) in support of the third Highway 160 project for inclusion and favorable ranking in Prioritization 4.0.

Highway 160Public comment period opens for 2016-2025 draft Transportation Improvement Program, amendments to the 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, and the Air Quality Conformity Determination Report

Who: Residents and other interested parties within the Charlotte Urbanized Area, which includes Iredell, Mecklenburg and portions of Union County.

What: The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) has opened a 30 day public comment period to obtain public input on its 2016-2025 DRAFT Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), amendments to the 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), and the air quality conformity Determination report for the MTP & TIP.

When: The 30-day public comment period begins Wednesday, July 1, and concludes Friday, July 31. The public can also submit comments in person on the draft TIP and associated documents at the CRTPO meeting on Wednesday July 15, at 6:00 p.m., in Room 267 at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth Street.

Final action to approve the DRAFT TIP and associated documents is scheduled for Wednesday, August 19.

How to submit comments: The draft project lists and maps are posted on the CRTPO website: www.crtpo.org. Comments should be directed to Neil Burke using the following methods:

E-Mail: info@crtpo.org

Regular Mail:
CRTPO
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center
600 E. Fourth St., 8th floor
Charlotte, NC 28202

FAX:
704-336-5123


Why: During the 30-day public comment period, residents and other interested parties can submit comments to be considered by the CRTPO in conjunction with the adoption of this program. CRTPO’s TIP is a subset of NCDOT’s State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), and public involvement efforts should be similar in scope. The Strategic Transportation Investments legislation has created a quantitative, data-driven approach to develop the STIP, and NCDOT has focused the public involvement on the variety and geographic diversity of the projects and the process to develop the STIP. The Program of Projects required by 49 USC 5307 is a subset of the Transportation Improvement Program and the public review and comment solicited for this Transportation Improvement Program is intended to include and satisfy the public review and comment required under 49 USC 5307(c)(1) through (7) for the Urbanized Area Program.

CRTPO is the federally-designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Charlotte urbanized area. More information is available on the CRTPO website at www.crtpo.org.
 

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