Charlotte Traffic: The Mobility Plan – Charlotte Magazine

As more and more vehicles clog the city’s streets, you may fill the time creeping along in traffic by pondering some relevant questions: What’s the plan here? Will the city build more roads? Expand light rail? Improve streets and sidewalks? Make traffic corridors easier and faster to navigate?

Yes to all of the above, with a crucial caveat. The city estimates that the effort will cost tens of billions, and there’s no guarantee that a major source of the money will materialize.

“In Charlotte, we have a plan and no money,” Mayor Vi Lyles told the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance nearly two years ago. “So, one day, we’re going to look around, and we’re going to have to figure this out.”

The city has figured out, in general terms, what it wants: A range of projects that offers “everyone in our city safe and equitable mobility choices,” according to a Strategic Mobility Plan that City Council members adopted in June 2022 and which city staff have refined. A key component of the overall vision—which springs from the 2040 Comprehensive Plan that council members adopted in 2021—is a “50-50 mode share aspiration,” which aims for half of all trips to be taken by something other than a car: bus, rail, bicycle, foot.

The idea is to reduce dependency on cars and trucks and ease strain on roads, connect neighborhoods, and make transportation more affordable for people who live in low-income areas. The mobility effort is coupled to a transit-specific outline that aims to expand the bus system, build on the streetcar line, and develop additional commuter and light rail lines to Lake Norman and Gaston County.

It’s an ambitious vision, and the only realistic way to make the entire plan a reality is through a new 1-cent sales tax that the North Carolina General Assembly would have to approve—a prospect in which the legislature “has shown about as much interest as a vegan at a Brazilian steakhouse,” writes Steve Harrison of WFAE, who covers transportation. House Speaker Tim Moore has said lawmakers want the city to adopt a “roads-first” blueprint that wouldn’t force people out of their cars and onto public transit. Before COVID, the city says, 76% of Charlotteans commuted to work by driving alone.

By itself, the transit plan would cost an estimated $13.5 billion. In late May, city officials pared down its ambition for transit by proposing a 40% spending cap, down from its original 80% goal, on rail. The city hopes the concession will make legislative approval of the sales tax more likely. Without it, the city could pay for parts of the mobility vision through its Capital Investment Plan, which funds infrastructure improvements through bond issues that voters have generally approved. Developer fees might cover other parts. But the overall effort would almost certainly require at least one other major funding source.

“How do we pay for it? That’s the realistic conversation we need to have as a community,” council member Malcolm Graham said during an April meeting of the council’s Transportation, Planning and Development committee. “If we put a price tag to this, it would shock the conscience in terms of how much all this would cost. Even if we would hypothetically raise (property) taxes 2, 3, 4, 10, 20 cents, it couldn’t pay for it all. So I think we need to be grounded in reality.”

As of this writing, reality is the following: City officials will try to convince their counterparts in Raleigh to have a referendum on the 1-cent sales tax placed on Mecklenburg County ballots, possibly next year. (On the next page are general goals and potential projects the plan would cover in 16 “strategic investment areas.”) Without that, it appears that Charlotte’s attempts to accommodate its ever-growing transportation needs will, appropriately enough, creep along with no clear idea of its time to destination.

THE MOBILITY PLAN, IN SHORT

GOALS:

“Vision Zero”: Eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on Charlotte streets through intersection, road, and sidewalk improvements and added emphasis on public transit.

50-50 Mode Share: “As a community, half of our commute trips will be made by means other than a single-occupancy vehicle, through walking, biking, and taking transit.”

Targeted road and intersection expansion, new traffic signals, enhanced street lighting, and fiber-optic connectivity.

Expansion of public transit through high-frequency bus priority corridors; “mobility hubs” with multiple transportation options; and on-demand “microtransit” services—a local, government version of ride-share—in designated areas.

New sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.

New bicycle facilities to complement expanded bike paths and greenways.

Curbside management of on-street parking and charging stations for electric vehicles.

AREAS OF IMPORTANCE:

Designation of a “High Injury Network,” about 10% of Charlotte streets, where safety investments are most urgent.

Filling of sidewalk and street-light gaps throughout the city, mainly throughout low-income neighborhoods in the “crescent.”

Six “Bus Priority Corridors” that need investment most: Central Avenue, Beatties Ford Road, South Tryon Street, Monroe Road, Freedom Drive, and Ashley Road.

16 “Strategic Investment Areas,” including uptown, University City, Steele Creek, and Independence, designated for a broad range of projects. They include joint efforts with the state Department of Transportation to enhance streets for multimodal traffic; and intersection and sidewalk improvements.