CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Commuters riding the bus could soon find themselves skipping traffic on Independence Boulevard. Years after being closed, bus lanes in the center of Independence Boulevard could soon reopen.
The lanes were closed in 2017 when construction began to replace the Hawthorne Lane overpass. The bridgework was needed to accommodate the expansion of the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar. The original plan called for reopening the Independence Boulevard lanes as toll lanes, similar to those on Interstate 77 and the ones being constructed on Interstate 485.
The bus lanes sat dormant as the Hawthorne Lane bridge project faced extensive delays, including the use of the wrong girders and the wrong concrete. The Hawthorne Lane bridge finally opened in 2020.
Proposals to convert the bus lanes to toll lanes have been delayed due to North Carolina Department of Transportation "funding shortfalls," according to the city of Charlotte. The delay has left "the busway needing interim work to restore busway operation."
That interim work is nearing completion.
Following the completion of a project earlier this year to realign the entranceway away from a new Hawthorne Street bridge pillar, CATS said Monday they are working to test traffic signals this week.
"That should occur this week," Brett Baldeck, communications manager for CATS, told WCNC Charlotte on Monday. "Once that is complete, the signals will need to be tested and our bus operators will receive additional training. We are aiming to reopen the bus lanes near the end of summer."
The approximately 5 miles of roadway will be open exclusively to CATS transit buses and emergency vehicles. The lanes are meant to encourage the use of transit. The corridor provides one lane inbound and another lane outbound between Uptown Charlotte and Wallace Road near Matthews. The lanes run continuously without entrances or exits except for a ramp for Albemarle Road.
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The bus lanes between Charlotte and Matthew could be a peak into the future after plans to build a light rail train to the Mecklenburg County suburb were canceled earlier this year.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is also taking community feedback on whether to expand Independence Boulevard.
Kayland Hagwood contributed to this report. You can contact Kayland at khagwood@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
If those lanes were ever to be converted into toll lanes, the latest cost estimate puts that project around $105 million. Another nearly-billion dollars would be needed to expand those lanes all the way down to I-485 in Matthews. Currently, the existing bus lanes end two miles south of the interchange with Albemarle Road.
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