The Mecklenburg Union Metropolitan Planning Organization voted unanimously Wednesday night to add the N.C. DOT’s proposed I-77 widening project to the region’s long-range transportation plan and priority list. The vote was uneventful, but the meeting wasn’t, as toll opponents packed a meeting room in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center continuing their fight against the widening project. Read the full story

Aerial view shows the location of Pender Pointe, off John Connor Road. Click for details.

Commissioners on Monday approved a rezoning for Pender Pointe, a single-family home to be built off John Connor Road in the Peninsula neighborhood. The board also held a public hearing on the 2014 budget – where only one resident spoke – and debated but took no action on two other hot local issues: I-77 widening and the empty Board of Commissioners seat. Read the full story

Dave Gilroy

Cornelius Commissioner Dave Gilroy, and state Reps. Robert Brawley (R-Mooresville) and Larry Pittman (R-Concord) were scheduled to speak publicly in Mooresville Sunday afternoon in opposition to the state’s plans to widen I-77 north of Charlotte by adding high-occupancy toll lanes.

Their statements at Sunday’s event – organized by the anti-toll group Widen I-77 – came just days before a planned Wednesday vote by the Mecklenburg Union Metropolitan Planning Organization to move the project forward.
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The Lake Norman Regional Transportation Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 6:30pm at the Cornelius Town Hall, with a focus on transportation planning in the NC 73 corridor through the region. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

Months of debate among Cornelius commissioners over the NC Department of Transportation’s plan to widen I-77 north of Charlotte by adding toll lanes ended dramatically and quickly Monday night in a 3-2 vote in favor of the concept. With the board still one member short because of a vacancy, it was up to Mayor Lynette Rinker to break a 2-2 tie on the issue. Read the full story

Widen I-77 leader Kurt Naas of Cornelius (right) and Rep. Robert Brawley of Mooresville answered questions at Sunday’s press conference. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

MOORESVILLE – As a key vote approaches on the NC DOT’s plans to widen I-77 by adding toll lanes, opponents with the group Widen I-77 are still hoping to build a following for their anti-toll cause. On Sunday they hosted a press conference to introduce their latest ally, state Rep. Robert Brawley (R-Mooresville). Read the full story

The Cornelius Town Board is expected to vote Monday on two development projects – the proposed expansion of auto dealer Lake Norman Hyundai off I-77 Exit 28 and a complex rezoning for Pender Pointe, a single family home John Conner Road in the Peninsula neighborhood. Town Manager Anthony Roberts also will present the board with his recommendation for the 2013-14 town budget. Read the full story

Panorama shows work on the sinkhole Friday, May 3. Click to enlarge. (James Sanders/CorneliusNews.net)

Workers have begun rebuilding Old Canal Street in the Antiquity neighborhood, where a sinkhole has the road closed. Town officials and the developer say fixing the sinkhole will require removing soil and a damaged retaining wall in the area, then rebuilding the wall and refilling the site.  Read the full story