Check out a concrete example of Charlotte city officials ignoring road congestion in order to purse train-building schemes.
WCNC reports that residents of Northeast Charlotte are fed up with bottlenecks on W. Sugar Creek. That vital road goes from four lanes to two as it cuts through the Derita community.
But now that the $358 million North commuter rail line is on tap to slice through Derita, road improvements are out:
“The solution to this problem is quite simple: it’s widening West Sugar Creek,” said neighbor and Northeast Coalition member Jack Brosch.
That idea was on the city’s radar screen about five years ago. Neighbors say talk of widening seemed to disappear when light rail appeared. Now, there’s no guaranteed funding for light rail in this stretch and neighbors say they are right back to where they were, with a few exceptions.
“28269 has become the largest zip code in all of Charlotte. During this time, no road improvements have occurred to the north-south transportation districts,” said Brosch.
Sorry, Jack. You and your neighbors are supposed to park your cars and ride the train. Didn’t you get Mayor Pat’s memo?
Update: Just watched Jack Brosch’s very clear demand to the Charlotte city council last night to widen W. Sugar Creek. Turns out that thousands of homes have gone in the area without road improvements. That sounds about right. Take millions in new property tax revenue and refuse to provide services.
We don’t have local government, we have a protection racket.
