Bypass delayed until 2011

Construction on the Monroe Bypass now won’t start until 2011 because the North Carolina Turnpike Authority won’t have funds to pay for it until December 2010, Turnpike Authority officials confirmed Jan. 27. The delay will add $7 million to the price tag.

And those who drive the toll road from Marshville to Charlotte may want to stock up on change. Officials estimate the
21.1-mile trip will cost commuters 10 to 20 cents per mile – $4.20 to $8.40 round-trip every day.

The now $777 million toll-road project was originally scheduled to begin in fall 2010. Officials said the delay has resulted from investors’ lack of interest in buying the bonds to build it. The bypass is being financed from three sources: $400 million in federal bonds, $185.7 million in state Transportation Improvement Program ­dollars and $25 million per year for eight years in gap funds, authorized in 2009 by the North Carolina General Assembly.

“It just isn’t a good climate right now for selling bonds,” said Turnpike Authority Communications Manager Beau Memory. “Until we sell those bonds, however, we can’t start purchasing right of way.”

The only money the authority currently has in its coffers is this fiscal year’s $25 ­million gap funds. It’s unclear, Memory said, if it can get the $185 million TIP dollars the state earmarked for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1. The North Carolina Department of Transportation already projects a $600 million shortfall.

If the DOT comes up short, that money would be reallocated to the authority in ­fiscal 2011. “Until we have that money in the bank, there’s very little we can do as far as breaking ground,” Memory said.

Local businesses frustrated

The construction delay also stymies the estimated 76 Indian Trail and Stallings business owners in the bypass’s path who say they can’t afford to move on their own or make long-term plans in their current locations because of shifting construction dates. Memory said the Turnpike Authority would try to work with them to make the delay and relocation as painless as possible.

Indian Trail’s Carolina Courts, 7210 Stinson Hartis Road, sits in the bypass’s path, which breaks off U.S. 74 between Stallings and Indian-Trail Fairview roads, runs north of the Old Hickory Business Park in Indian Trail, and heads east, winding north of Secrest Shortcut Road. The delay means some 2011 sports tournaments can’t be scheduled since owners are unsure where their facility will be.

“We can’t just pack up and move to an empty building. We have to build a facility to suit our needs,” President Ron Esser said, explaining that he needs at least 45,000 square feet and nine months’ notice to find a new property and move.

“Otherwise, we would have to shut the company down (during the transition),” Esser said, also criticizing communication between the authority and potentially affected businesses. “We’ve seen survey crews come through and not a word beforehand … so we could prepare.”

“I’m hoping something can be worked out,” Indian Trail Mayor John Quinn said, noting the council is willing to work with Carolina Courts to help it stay in town. “This business really speaks to the identity of the town, that of a family-friendly sports destination.”

“I would describe the NCTA delays as an added nuisance for our businesses in that most will need the buyout or relocation funds to move forward with their plans,” said Lynda Paxton, Stallings mayor and new Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan ­Planning Organization vice chairman.

Bypass construction is scheduled to end in 2014, and Memory says Turnpike Auth­ority officials aren’t sure how many commuters will use it. He said the authority should have better use estimates by March when it finishes an eight-month study of how the recession and slowing growth might affect revenue forecasts for the tolled portion, 21.1 miles between the current U.S. 74 and Interstate 85 past Marshville.

But Memory says the authority expects drivers who work in Union and Mecklenburg counties will use “Business 74,” the current U.S. 74. The bypass, he said, would be used by commercial traffic and those headed to the beach.

However, N.C. 218’s 30-mile span starting near Mint Hill and stretching across Mecklenburg, Union and Anson counties connects with U.S. 74 in Monroe. It was repaved last summer – and it’s free.