Rolling Oaks I

Details:  Graham Street Connector   The following article was posted on the University City Partners website, where you can now find News stories about University City posted from time to time:   www.universitycitypartners.org/   Public Gets A Look At Mallard Creek Rd Project 11.20.2008
 
Traffic could begin flowing in mid-2013 on a new four-lane roadway linking Graham Street and Mallard Creek Road, state highway staff said at a project workshop on Nov. 18.
  However, the new roadway will likely require the removal of two year-old condominium buildings and a neighborhood's signature pond.
  And the state's current design does not meet Charlotte's standards for walkable, bikeable roadways.
  About 50 people attended the informational workshop at Vance High School. N.C. transportation department staff explained the 2.4-mile-long project, listened to concerns and invited people to submit their ideas to the state for possible inclusion in the final design.
  The project's immediate goal is to reduce rush-hour congestion along West Sugar Creek Road. Several people at the workshop said the mile-long journey between Graham Street and Mallard Creek Road can take up to 30 minutes on particularly bad days.
  The Mallard Creek Road relocation project has two parts:
1. Widen two-lane Mallard Creek Road from West W.T. Harris Boulevard to about Garrison Drive.
  2. Build a new roadway from Garrison to the intersection of West Sugar Creek Road and Mineral Springs Road.
  Here are details on the project.
• The four-lane road will cost about $22.6 million, is designed for 50-mph speed and will have a median, curbs, gutters and sidewalks along both sides of the roadway. The outside lanes will be 16 feet wide to give extra room to bicycles.
  • The state classifies the new roadway as a minor arterial with controlled access. As a controlled-access facility, no driveway connections will be permitted within the controlled-access limits.
  • The new stretch of roadway will run north south from Garrison to just south of Rumple Road, where it bends to the southwest toward Graham Street.
  • The state is working with the city of Charlotte regarding the extension of City Boulevard from its current end at Neal Road to the new road's crossing at Rumple Road. The city would build the new stretch of City Boulevard. State staff said the city hopes to time City Boulevard's completion with the opening of the new stretch of Mallard Creek Road.
  • The new roadway will cut through a part of the Forest Pond neighborhood that the developer reserved for the future highway. The roadway may result in the lost of the neighborhood pond and playground.
  • The new roadway will cut through the Park Place at Walnut Creek Condominium community and require the removal of two buildings erected in 2007 on Park Creek Drive.
  • Sidewalks will sit back 4 feet from the roadway and will not have trees in the planting strip. This runs counter to Charlotte's road design standards, which call for an 8-foot planting strip between road and sidewalk, planted with large-maturing shade trees to encourage walking and bicycling.
  • Several homes on Rain Creek Way will lose significant portions of their backyards, with the road right of way coming within 25 feet of one home's rear wall.   Public comments welcome
The state will take suggestions and comments until Dec. 12 on the Mallard Creek Road relocation project (TIP No. U-2507A). Send them to:   By mail: Elmo E. Vance Jr., Project Development Engineer
Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch
NC DOT Division of Highways
1548 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1548
E-mail: Elmo E. Vance Jr. at eevance@dot.state.nc.us
Phone: Elmo E. Vance Jr. at 919-733-3141 =============================================================   Mel Renner, president of Forest Pond HOA, attended and reported the following Project development milestones are to be as follows:
 
- Citizens Information Workshop                      November  2008
 
- Development reviewed by the Federal             January 2009
  Highway Administration
 
- Re-evaluation completed                               February 2009
 
- Right of Way purchasing begins                    June 2009
 
- Construction begins                                     June 2011