CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bus lanes along East Independence Boulevard could reopen in early 2024.
Wednesday night, Charlotte's Metropolitan Transit Commission approved $550,000 in additional funds to complete the project.
The project was initially expected to cost about $750,000 and restore access for buses and emergency vehicles to lanes closed since 2017. According to the resolution set forth by the City of Charlotte, work was expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
An NCDOT spokesperson did not say Wednesday night why the project was not finished as planned last year. The project, which is expected to be funded by the CATS Capital Investment Plan, is now expected to cost $1.3 million.
The lanes were closed in 2017 when work began to replace the Hawthorne Street overpass to accommodate the 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 start of the toll lane conversion was considered to begin after the completion of the Hawthrone Street bridge, which was supposed to be completed in March of 2019. Significant construction delays prevented the Hawthrone Street bridge, and its new streetcar tracks, from fully opening until December 2020.
The bus lane restoration will restore these lanes to their previous operation as a busway, which at the time of its 2017 closure serviced express bus routes 40X, 46X, 52X, 64X, 65X, and 74X.