CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In order to better support those who travel by walking or biking, there is a push to remove restrictions limiting North Carolina from improving bike lanes.
A 2013 NC Strategic Transportation Investment Law prioritizes highway projects. Some local leaders believe this prioritization toward highways comes at the expense of projects for biking, walking or public transportation.
Terry Lansdell, the director BikeWalkNC, said the interchange of Pineville-Matthews Road and Interstate 485 near Pineville is one such roadway needing improvements.
“This is a state road that has the chance to be better if the funding limitations are removed,” Lansdell said.
He said the current road design has the best interest of drivers in mind.
“You have to have incredible confidence to get across the road,” Lansdell said.
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The area is near a hospital, public transportation, housing and local shops. Despite this, there are no pedestrian crossings. In some areas, including under I-485, there is also no sidewalk. A lack of a path or sidewalk restricts the ability to talk safely to locations such as Carolina Place Mall.
Lansdell said this roadway is an example of an issue that is seen in counties across the state.
“It shouldn’t be the responsibility of the vulnerable road user to protect their safety because engineering can solve that,” said Lansdell.
The 2013 state law prohibits the North Carolina Department of Transportation from spending money on standalone projects for active bicycle lanes or pedestrian paths. Craig Meyer, a North Carolina state senator, believes this makes it harder to correct the safety problems.
“North Carolina puts 94% of our transportation funding into highways,” Meyer said.
Meyer said it is important to invest in different modes of transportation. Meyer believes this is especially true as more people move to North Carolina and the roads become more congested.
Meyer is behind the Transportation for the Future Act to help remove those existing funding limitations.
“It lifts the cap on spending money on bike and pedestrian projects, and so that we could reinvest in those close infrastructure projects and get bike people biking off of the streets and on to safer greenway projects rather than on dangerous streets,” Meyer said.
It’s a proposed bill Lansdell hopes will gain popularity. He is looking to community members and municipalities to take action.
“We have 280 plans across North Carolina that remain unfunded that identify projects that people want, need and will use outside of their vehicles,” Lansdell said. “This type of example can be seen in every county in North Carolina. This is a statewide issue that happened in 2013 that needs to be resolved in this short session of the general assembly.”
Both men hope more work is done to help create a safe path forward for all road users.
Charlotte has significantly more sidewalks than bike lanes. All of Charlotte's bike lanes can be seen in this interactive map.
The list of streets with bike lanes in Charlotte can be searched in this database.
The list of streets with sidewalks in Charlotte can be searched in this database.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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