GARDEN PARKWAY STILL ON TRACK
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The $1B Garden Parkway connecting Charlotte and Gastonia dodged a bullet this legislative session—a Senate GOP effort to reallocate the so-called ?gap funding? the state will need to pay to support its future use. The 22-mile toll road is expected to receive Federal Highway Administration approval before year's end. But NC will need to pay as much as $35M per year for the next 40 years to insure its maintenance and operation. (That's ?the gap? certain legislative leaders didn't want the state to fall into.) But the Charlotte Chamber's Natalie English tells us lawmakers from Lincoln, Gaston, and Mecklenburg counties pooled their influence and the GOP effort was quashed. ?It is still a viable road that's necessary as we build out our airport and the intermodal yard.? |
