NEWS

 

U-5873?

The Town of Cornelius and North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) project to “improve the N.C. 115 (Main Street) / Potts Street intersection” is known officially as U-5873. Over the past week, countless mature trees in Cornelius and Davidson were felled as the years long project has kicked into high gear. (Photos of the ongoing work.)

Beyond the devastating impact of the lost mature trees, drivers are also noticing the excessive time delays as construction workers are often narrowing traffic to one lane, causing backups.

Mayor Rusty Knox shared his sentiments about the tree clearing on his Facebook page, his full statement is as follows:

“I believe in progress. I think that our area has to continue to evolve as we continue to grow. That being said, there are right ways to address change and wrong ways to deal with change. The roundabout project coming into Davidson from Cornelius is the wrong way. For those that don’t know, this will be the largest roundabout up here, rivaling the two new ones in Huntersville. These are DOT projects that had the blessings of the municipalities where they are located. Our Town had a different view, but it is not a Davidson project. There will be a pedestrian walkway into town, under the train trestle, which will be advantageous for pedestrians. There will be less congestion going to and from the YMCA, some of that congestion could have been addressed years ago by opening up Church Street. I still have issue with the amount of destruction of personal property on the Davidson side. The Burgess family, the Green School and the Jackson and Grosch properties are all being impacted. Legacy trees are gone and the southern entrance to our Town is forever changed. Sometimes progress takes on a different tone.”

His post has generated a flurry of comments, ranging from sympathetic to dismissive.

In the midst of this crosstalk, the complex history of this project is important.

The History of U-5873

 

The preliminary NCDOT public meeting to make residents aware of these potential projects was held on October 5, 2017 at Cornelius Town Hall.

At that meeting, NCDOT provided preliminary options for the U-5873 as well as U-5907. The latter project is Davidson’s project to create what has been deemed the Potts-Sloan-Beaty connector. NCDOT’s press release that announced the meeting said, “the purpose of these projects is to improve connectivity, improve traffic operations, and provide transportation alternatives through Davidson and Cornelius.”

At that 2017 meeting, two design options were provided. Alternative 1 (above) is the roundabout that was ultimately selected for construction. Alternative 2 (below) was an intersection.

 

The Davidson Town Board repeatedly sought to minimize the impact of the project in Davidson. Discussions of the project were held during numerous meetings in 2019, and at their April 23 meeting the Town Board passed a resolution specifically asking for changes to the proposed plan to minimize the impacts. (Note: videos, agendas, and minutes from these meetings are archived in the old format on the Town of Davidson website under the “Prior to October 2019” section.)

As noted in that meeting, most direct impacts are to three property owners: 497 (Jackson and Grosch), 511 (Green School), and 523 (Burgess) South Main Street.

The realignment of the road will come onto their existing properties. As such, NCDOT had to acquire rights of way from these property owners. The overall project required the acquisition of 32 parcels of land.

The project, like the vast majority of NCDOT projects, came to a grinding halt during COVID. However, discussion of the project continued.

It was the lead item of discussion at the Davidson Town Board’s July 28, 2020 virtual meeting (available on the Town’s YouTube Channel. )  The briefing begins at roughly the 8-minute mark of the video.

Following the NCDOT briefing slides, representatives walk through responses to questions previously submitted by the Davidson Town Board. The questions focus almost exclusively on elements of the Cornelius/NCDOT project that are within Davidson’s narrow scope of influence.

Cornelius Mayor Woody Washam and Commissioner Denis Bilodeau were also participants in the meeting. Mayor Washam provided a brief history of the project, and highlighted how it became one of their top priority projects. That discussion begins at roughly the 35-minute mark of the YouTube video.

The new alignment of the road was made not only to accommodate the size and location of the roundabout but also the opening of the historic railroad trestle/underpass. The size of the roundabout, as briefed by NCDOT was dictated by the traffic volume.

Most notably for walkers, joggers, and some cyclists, the new roadway will include a sidepath with a barrier between pedestrians and vehicles.