Quick East End Connector update from the N&O: the proposed Alignment 3 for the East End Connector is now expected to take seventeen homes, one business, and one church office -- presumably that of the Living Waters Church.
This is a sharp decrease from early estimates that suggested as many as twice that number of structures would be affected. Not that it's a terrible surprise; at this winter's public viewings of the four alignments, an NCDOT staffer mentioned to me that initial estimates of structure takings usually ran high, and that for this particular project engineers had already been 'tweaking' the design to minimize the number of takings.
That said, Michael makes a great point over at The Bull in Full today regarding land needs for the EEC and highway speeds. I heard the exact same thing from the NCDOT folks as Michael did -- that the additional land takings are needed to keep the road at highway speeds throughout its alignment. Not sure if that would pump up the speed to 65 all the way from I-85 down US 70 through the EEC to NC 147, but it wouldn't be a surprise. And yeah, the long-range idea is that you've got a great north-south connector linking NC 540 through Holly Springs/Cary up the Triangle Parkway, then up NC 147 and all the way to I-85. Whether that eventually gets a so-called '3di' designation like I-185 is an open question.
Also from the N&O, the state Board of Transportation is set to vote on the issue of additional gap funding to meet the additional $94 million needed for the project at a Board meeting later in 2007.
Guess what? I got an email today from the city:
"You have been selected to serve on the East End Connector Ad Hoc Committee. We will be mailing you a letter regarding the first meeting."
I'll keep you all updated. It's only been 4 months since i volunteered to serve on the committee.
Posted by: barry | July 12, 2007 at 03:06 PM