Forget for a moment the fact that it’s a fact in government bureaucracy that one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing. Here’s what jumped out at me as the N&R’s Taft Wireback looks for villains in Greensboro’s Urban Loop mess, which has placed homeowners in the path of six lanes of oncoming traffic:
The story of Quail Oaks showcases the major weaknesses in building projects of such gigantic size as the 43-mile loop, which could still take decades to complete. So far, about 25 miles have been built.
Planned for 129 single-family homes, Quail Oaks sits next to land set aside in the 1996 corridor map for an exit ramp from the loop onto U.S. 29.
The two real estate firms developing it, Southeast Land Co. and Keystone Group, were within their rights to build there. “They were completely outside the corridor,” DOT’s Mills said.
But unknown to the developers in November 2004, shortly before they began construction, state and federal officials threw a monkey wrench into the 1996 plan: They decided to forge a high-speed link from Greensboro to Danville, Va. by upgrading U.S. 29 to interstate status.
That meant new federal standards for the loop’s interchange at U.S. 29, greatly expanding the land needed.
Did DOT announce this to the public so people had a heads-up? No.
Do we really, really need a “high-speed link” from Greensboro to Danville? I’m just asking.
