CHARLOTTE - The N.C. Department of Transportation, working with local, state and federal agencies have selected a preferred route for a project to improve a section of N.C. 73 between Davidson-Concord Road in Mecklenburg County and U.S. 29 in Cabarrus County. The proposed project will improve traffic along N.C. 73, reduce congestion at key intersections, and provide accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Public meetings were held in Concord and Huntersville in January, offering citizens an opportunity to learn about design options for the corridor. Input from those meetings and additional public comments were taken into consideration in preparing the preliminary design options and evaluating environmental impacts.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also provided a public notice comment period from late April to late May to gather input where streams and wetlands along the project could be impacted.
The recommended design, presented as Alternative 1 at the public meetings, consists of widening N.C. 73 on its existing alignment with a bridge to be constructed to the south of the existing N.C. 73 causeway over the Don T. Howell/Coddle Creek Reservoir.
Final design is scheduled to begin this summer. A public meeting to present the recommended design will be scheduled this fall. NCDOT will continue coordination efforts with stakeholders to address their concerns in the project corridor proceeding into and through the project’s final design phase.