Back Creek RR crossing relief - at long last

8.24.2009

Long-suffering Back Creek Church Road motorists will soon get two doses of relief.
Work is expected to start in September to greatly expand the Back Creek Church Road railroad crossing at N.C. 49. Key improvements should be in place by November.
Also in September, city staff will hold the first public meeting on plans to improve the rest of Back Creek Church Road. The project already has $4.7 million in funds, though it may need more.
North Carolina is handling improvements at the Back Creek railroad crossing and a sister crossing a mile to the west at McLean and Old Concord roads.
Both crossings serve several large neighborhoods along McLean, Back Creek and Caldwell roads, and both crossings have remained barely unchanged since the days when dairy farms lined those roads.
The situation at Back Creek Church Road is more dire, however. More than 10,000 cars a day travel Back Creek Church Road just south of the crossing. Traffic often backs up for several signal changes.

THE STATE PLANS EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS:
• Installing dual left-turn lanes from Back Creek Church Road onto westbound N.C. 49, and from N.C. 49 onto Pavilion Boulevard.
• Widening lanes on Back Creek Church road to well below Hanberry Place.
• Upgrading the traffic lights and crossing gates.
• Adding a median, safety devices, curbs, gutters and sidewalks along Back Creek Church Road.
Bob Pressley, an engineer with Gannett Fleming, the company that designed the project, said that bids are going out soon. Assuming that bids come in as expected, state crews will begin grading in September. A private contractor will take over in October and should be able to get the project roughed out and drivable by mid-November - unless heavy rains delay the work.
Work will be completed in the spring, since North Carolina does not allow paving past Nov. 15.
Work has already started on the much less complex McLean crossing improvements and should be complete in November. That project will add a left-turn lane and upgrade crossing equipment and the traffic light.

PUBLIC MEETING SEPT. 17 FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS

While the state tackles the railroad crossing, the city of Charlotte plans to upgrade two-lane Back Creek Church Road through its farm-to-market road improvement program.
The city project will pick up where the state project ends just south of Hanberry Place. Jim Keenan with city engineering said that the project has $4.7 million of funding in place now. While that sounds like a lot, it is perhaps half of what would be needed to transform the entire length from 49 to Rocky River Road.
The meeting on Sept. 17 at Back Creek Presbyterian Church will seek residents' ideas and concerns. The final road design will be done by late next year. If the designers feel they need more money, they can go back to the city and ask for more, Keenan said.
More likely, he added, they will concentrate the improvements on the stretch between Hanberry and John Russell Road.
Keenan said that the road improvements could be finished by late 2012.

WANT TO GO?
A public information meeting on improving Back Creek Church Road will take place 6-8 p.m. Sept. 17 at Back Creek Presbyterian Church, on Back Creek Church Road near University City Boulevard. City planners will discuss the general scope of the road project and seek ideas from the public.


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