Garden Parkway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Garden Parkway is a proposed limited access toll road

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

to be built in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, United States, that will pass through portions of Gaston County

Gaston County, North Carolina

Gaston County is a county located just west of Charlotte in the southern Piedmont in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third largest county, by population, in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, officially designated the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of...

and Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

-Air:The county's primary commercial aviation airport is Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte.- Intercity rail :With twenty-five freight trains a day, Mecklenburg is a freight railroad transportation center, largely due to its place on the NS main line between Washington and Atlanta...

Route description

Planned routes for the Garden Parkway would total between 21.5 to 23.7 miles (38.1 km) in length. The route begins between Gastonia

Gastonia, North Carolina

Gastonia is the largest city and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is also the third largest suburb of the Charlotte Area, behind Concord and Rock Hill. The population was 71,226 as of Gastonia is the largest city and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina,...

and Bessemer City

Bessemer City, North Carolina

Bessemer City is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,592 at the 2010 census. The city is approximately 6 miles northwest of Gastonia and 25 miles west of Charlotte...

; going south, connecting US 29

U.S. Route 29 in North Carolina

U.S. Route 29 is an north–south United States highway that runs for from the South Carolina state line, near Blacksburg, to the commonwealth of Virginia, near Danville...

/US 74

U.S. Route 74

U.S. Route 74 is an east–west United States highway that runs for from Cleveland, Tennessee to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.-Tennessee:Established in 1987, US-74 western terminus is exit 20 on I-75 in Cleveland...

and US 321

U.S. Route 321

U.S. Route 321 is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for 526 miles from South Carolina to Tennessee. The northern terminus of U.S. 321 is between Lenoir City and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at Interstate 40 exit 364, which is about 4 miles west of Interstate 40's junction with Interstate 75...

. The route then goes east, connecting NC 274, NC 279, and NC 273. Crossing over the Catawba River

Catawba River

The Catawba River is a tributary of the Wateree River in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The river is approximately 220 miles long...

, the route ends at Interstate 485/West Boulevard interchange in Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

, immediately southwest of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr...

.

A connector road was also proposed between I-85

Interstate 85 in North Carolina

In the U.S. state of North Carolina, Interstate 85 scales the state for from the South Carolina border to the Virginia border. As the second-longest interstate in the state , it provides an important link between the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte, Greensboro, Richmond, Virginia and...

and US 321

U.S. Route 321

just north of Gastonia

Gastonia, North Carolina

. However, this does not appear anymore in current NCDOT maps.

Cost and Construction Estimates

Preliminary costs are estimated (as of August, 2006) to be between $732 million and $1.568 billion, with final costs to be determined during design. The North Carolina Turnpike Authority

North Carolina Turnpike Authority

The North Carolina Turnpike Authority was created in 2002 as a board with the authority to study, plan, develop and undertake preliminary design work for toll roads and toll bridges in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The NCTA has the power to design, establish, purchase, construct, operate, and...

has projected initial construction as beginning in the spring of 2010, with completion to US 321 expected by the spring of 2015. 2030 is the projected date for completion to I-85.

Project Purpose

The purpose of the project was originally conceived by the Gaston Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (Gaston MPO) to provide an east-west connection between I-85 west of Gastonia to I-485 in Mecklenburg County. Funding is available to build the toll road to US 321, south of Gastonia beginning in 2010. Completion date is scheduled in 2030. Projections show 19,000 to 21,000 vehicles at the project's US 321 terminus in 2030.

Community Opposition

Community opposition is forming against what some affected property owners have called "the toll road to nowhere." They assert that the toll road will discharge 20,000 vehicles through the York-Chester neighborhood, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and that the project will not meet the purpose of providing the east-west connection that was originally conceived.

Community Support

Community support has formed as a counter to a toll road opposition group who refers to the project as "the toll road to nowhere." The "Build The Garden Parkway" group claims that the Garden Parkway "...is the result of many years of hard work and planning by people who care about their community. It is a commitment to Gaston County's growth and development. It is our chance to make a lasting, positive impact on the future for us all, and it will not come again." During the summer of 2009, at public meetings in the towns of Belmont, NC and Gastonia, NC, pro-parkway residents arrived to show their support with green signs and t-shirts featuring the slogan, "Build The Garden Parkway! Gaston County's Road To the Future". The Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce has also been vocal in their support of the Garden parkway project. Chamber president Elyse Cochran is on the record in stating, "we feel it is for the greater good of Gaston County as a whole, what this proposed project does is open up opportunities for this community to attract positive growth and development long term, adding to the tax coffers of our community."

Exit list

{| class=wikitable
!County
!Location
!Mile
!Exit
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=8|Gaston

Gaston County, North Carolina

|rowspan=3|Gastonia

Gastonia, North Carolina

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

External links

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