Transforming 29-49 Weave will take patience

4.20.2009

No pain; no gain, right?
Remember that over the next two-plus years as construction crews overhaul “the weave," the heavily traveled and often cursed quarter mile of roadway where North Tryon Street, University City Boulevard and the I-85 exit ramp come together.
Construction should start by late summer, says project manager Sonji Mosley with the Charlotte Engineering Department.
The next two-three years could bring plenty of delays along one of the busiest stretches of highway in Charlotte, as work crews replace two bridges and several merge lanes with two signalized intersections and a new path for University City Boulevard and the I-85 ramp.
The finished project should bring greater freedom of movement for traffic on all three roadways, easy access to northbound I-85 and room down the widened North Tryon Street median for the proposed light-rail line to center city Charlotte.
Rather than blend into North Tryon Street, University City Boulevard will turn to the right as it approaches Tryon and end at a traffic signal with the newly opened City Boulevard. The change will allow traffic to continue west on City Boulevard to reach I-85.
At the other end of the weave, traffic coming off of I-85 will travel a slightly different path to North Tryon and end at a new signalized intersection across from Sandy Avenue.
Juggling construction and heavy traffic will add time to the construction schedule, Mosley says.
More than 67,000 vehicles a day travel the short stretch of Tryon between the I-85 ramp and the University City Boulevard split. By comparison, about 56,000 vehicles a day travel Harris Boulevard through University Research Park.
“As you can imagine, we will have massive traffic shifts as we build the project under existing traffic,” Mosley wrote in an e-mail. “We will start our project at the intersection of 49/29 (University City Boulevard and North Tryon Street), but it will be phased in manner to eliminate the bridge over 49 and guide traffic in the median so as to not interrupt the flow of traffic.”

WANT TO VIEW THE PLAN? Project details including a map of the finished project are available at http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/City+Engineering/See+Our+Projects/Transportation/Roads/NC+49+-+US+29.htm


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