Earlier this month, aShortChronicle reported on a statement by a reporter at a May 5th press conference on the I-77 Hot Lanes. That statement was "the folks in Davidson were told, 'get behind us and we'll do the Red Line'". (See "Threats, promises, and holes in the HOT lanes dike..." for the full story.)
That statement was made as part of a question asked by Israel Balderas, formerly of WCCB Charlotte. One week after this press conference it was announced that Balderas no longer worked for the station.
In the days following that press conference and after this post on the WidenI77.org website, there was a spirited back and forth via email between Davidson Board members and WidenI77.org. Both aShortChronicle and DavdisonNews.net were copied on the email exchanges. In those exchanges, two Davidson Commissioners strongly pushed back on the insinuation that there was any horse trading going on regarding the toll lanes and the Red Line. (While these emails are public records open for anyone to see, the Commissioners' names will be omitted here since they were not asked for a quote.) That push back resulted in updates to the WidenI77.org blog post retracting the direct implication that Davidson made a direct trade for its HOT Lane support. WidenI77.org also requested a similar apology from Davidson's Mayor John Woods for accusatory statements he made during a recent interview claiming that those who oppose the HOT Lanes are spreading "misinformation" and causing "confusion" and "hysteria".
All of this just provides background for what happened last week and will happen this coming week.
At last Tuesday's Davidson Town Board meeting, Commissioners expressed unanimous support for the HOT lanes - sending Commissioner Jenest to the 5/22 MUMPO meeting with instructions to support the toll lanes. (See "Davidson voices support for toll lanes" from the latest Huntersville Herald.)
Earlier that same day at the NC General Assembly, legislation that impacts the Red Line started to move, racing to beat two deadlines. Senate bills S103 and S104 were combined into a single bill to update the rules around Special Assessment Districts and to extend the sunset for the existing SAD legislation. The combined legislation under Version 2 of S103 sped through the State Senate during what is called "cross-over" week to beat the first legislative deadline and passed the Senate on 5/16. This deadline is critical because bills that have not passed one chamber of the NCGA by cross-over are effectively dead for the next 2 years. Passing the NC Senate allows the second Red Line deadline a chance to be met. If the NC House now approves S103 and it becomes law before June 30th, the SAD sunset clause will be extended for another 2 years. This extension is absolutely critical to the current Red Line financing plan.
This coming week events will take place that affect both the HOT Lanes and the Red Line.
On Tuesday, 5/22, MUMPO will vote on amending the region's Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) with language supporting the HOT Lanes project. The meeting agenda can be found here. Ironically, the education session before this meeting will be on the legislation "now pending in the General Assembly that, if enacted, will significantly change the way transportation projects are funded. Potential impacts of the legislation will be discussed." This refers to Governor McCrory's new transportation plan. The irony is that immediately after learning about legislation which could impact funding for projects like widening I-77, MUMPO member are expected to vote on a plan based on what will likely be old and out of date rules within a few months.
Also on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will receive the results of a blue ribbon panel that has been compiling ways to find more money for the region's rail transit plans. One of the proposals according to previous reports here and here is to request an additional 1/2 cent transit tax - something that requires General Assembly approval to even put on the ballot. While the number one problem for the Red Line at the moment may be Norfolk Southern, in the long term more money is needed, and the recommendations from this panel along with any NCGA approvals is where it will be found
Citizens should take Davidson's commissioners at their word when they state there has been no direct horse trading on the Red line for HOT lanes support. However, there is no denying that Raleigh is already moving to support the Red Line and that the Red Line will need more support from the NCGA in the future if the project is to go forward. When Davidson casts its vote to support HOT lanes on Tuesday, the Town certainly will not be rocking the political boat in any way that could hurt the chances for its most favorite project - the Red Line.
Bonus Observation: The political waters are continuing to swirl for the I-77 HOT lanes as more local politicians come out of the woodwork to openly oppose the project. See the most recent Charlotte Observer article here. As was stated in the post about the May 5th press conference, this is going to get messier before it is all over.
Citizens opposed to toll roads are encouraged to join WidenI77.Org to attend the MUMPO meeting this Wednesday (5/22) where Charlotte and area town delegates will vote on tolls for I-77. Meeting information:
ReplyDeleteWednesday - May 22 at 7:00 p.m. 600 E. Fourth Street | 8th Floor | Charlotte, NC 28202-2853 |
(704) 336-2205
Parking at the facility is west of the Government Center.
We will meet in the lobby on the main floor at 6:00 PM. After a short meeting we will process through security into the MUMPO meeting room which may be on the second floor.
If you would like to car pool to the meeting, please meet in the parking lot of the Northcross Shopping Center between Target and the Gas Station. We will depart there at 5:00 PM.
WidenI77.org
Put I-77 expansion money into a cheap train. The tracks are there, just buy a couple of cars. Many places put out-of-service school buses on railroad car wheel carriages and roll with that. This will get commuters off the Interstate highways, which were designed for INTERSTATE traffic, not inter-county. It will drastically reduce air pollution. People will ride the rail in droves when they realize it will save them many hours a week in commute time. But in the battle for the transportation empire-builders, and the anti-anything new crowd, this will never happen.
ReplyDeleteAnon, thanks for the comment.
DeleteI'd be interested in seeing a picture of the school-bus-to-passenger-train-car conversions you mention. That must be quite a site.
However, I am afraid it would not work for the expected train riders here. One of the stated reasons for building a train even though an express bus service already exists is that some people like the panache of a train over a bus. Being a daily bus rider myself, I have a hard time seeing that as a good justification, but my guess is that the people who say they would ride a train over a bus might not do so if it was really a school bus on train wheels.