2001 Charlotte Report.

• Author: Quirk, Bea
• Position: Interstate 485 is fueling major developments in the areas surrounding Charlotte - Brief Article

Interstate 485, though less than half done, is fueling major developments in the areas surrounding Charlotte.

For decades, a loop road around Charlotte has been a gleam in the eye of Charlotte business leaders. After all, the Queen City is the largest metropolitan area in the United States without such a thoroughfare.

After years of debate and planning, the first section of I-485 -- commonly called the Outer Belt -- opened in 1991 between U.S. 521 (Polk Street/South Boulevard) and N.C. 51 (Pineville-Matthews Road).

Ten years later, 25.3 miles and 15 interchanges are open, out of the 67 miles and 34 interchanges the Outer Belt will feature when the road is finished in about another 10 years. Yet I-485 has already had a significant impact on Charlotte and has dramatically changed the face of the city.

"The development around the Outer Belt is already occurring faster than we thought it would," says Charlotte City Council member Sara Spencer, who chairs the council's Transportation Committee.

"Each of these interchanges is a developer's dream," says neighborhood activist Dottie Coplon, who says it with concern, rather than with delight.

Even elected officials, such as Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, voice concern that the development along the Outer Belt be sustainable. "We can learn from other cities' strategic mistakes about belt roads," he says. "When we design interchanges and make zoning decisions, we need to be thinking 50 to 100 years in the future. Even the smallest decisions have an impact on the long-term viability of the Outer Belt. I want Charlotte to still be a good place to live and work in 100 years."

I-485 was originally conceived as a limited-access road around Charlotte that

would enable people traveling through the area to avoid driving on city streets. But with growth already occurring at Charlotte's edges and because of the number of interchanges added to the Outer Belt, it has also become a way for local drivers to get from one place to another within the city. Plus, when you add major developments at the interchanges, they become destinations themselves. As Spencer notes, "All this makes for a very busy road."

Problems quickly arose at some of the first interchanges, notably N.C. 51 and Providence Road. The interchange design was not always adequate for the amount of traffic or traffic patterns generated. There was increased congestion, unplanned and poorly designed development, noise, lack of pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly street systems and loss of community when neighborhoods were divided by the new road.

As a result of citizens' complaints about these problems, the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (M-UMPO) sponsored a study of existing and proposed interchanges along I-485. M-UMPO is a federally mandated board that oversees long-range transportation plans for all of Mecklenburg and parts of Union County, based on locally-adopted land use plans. Members are all local elected officials.

The I-485 Interchange Analysis reviewed each interchange's design and land use. Recommendations were made for all interchanges, as well as specific recommendations for each one regarding design and land use and zoning within a half-mile radius. It was accepted by M-UMPO in July 1999. As a result of the study, one planned interchange, at Westinghouse Boulevard, was eliminated. Another one, at Weddington Road, may also be eliminated.

This report acts as a guide for Charlotte City Council when it makes rezoning decisions. However, there is no legal requirement that the council do so. "I hope we have the political courage in the future to stay with these plans," McCrory says. "In the long run, it's in the best interests of everybody."

In 2001, two major rezonings around the Outer Belt were approved: One to Charlotte-based Michael J. Fox & Associates LLC for a 100-acre mixed-use site with about 100,000 square feet of retail at the Mallard Creek Road interchange; and one to Charlotte-based Pappas Properties LLC, for 950 acres for a mixed-use development on Shopton Road West.

"By establishing what we want at each interchange, we are giving a sense of direction to help developers," says Garrett Walsh, land-use program manager at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission. "I imagine the contentious battles won't occur until land begins to get scarce. Right now, there's still a lot...