The first hint something is wrong — a nine hour public hearing on a retail store. Nine hours. That’s a politboro meeting. A mini-series. A NASCAR race. A trip to the DMV.
But a marathon gripe-fest about a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Waxhaw is insane. The extent the store would increase traffic on Highway 16 is marginal compared to what all the subdivision growth has already caused. There is a reason the road is already bumper-to-bumper.
The real problem is that 16 should be four lanes from 485 all the way to Waxhaw. But — whoops! — the Downeast Kleptocracy in Raleigh, the clowns at NC DOT, and a few woefully misguided local officials have conspired to push that necessity off. Congestion can be fixed with added capacity, especially when rural farmland becomes rolling subdivisions with large lots.
Opponents of the Wal-Mart plan are fixated on the wrong target.
