Susan Lindsay remembers when she was a teenager, in the 1950s, how she and her cousins used to “cruise” Independence Boulevard, popping into the mom-and-pop shops along the road. “It was the typical early ‘50s strip development,” said Lindsay, vice president of Charlotte East Community Partners, an advocacy group for east Charlotte. Since then, the [...]
Jasper Stem always thought Charlotte was recession-proof. But Stem, executive director of the North Carolina Aggregates Association, has seen mining business in the state decline by nearly half since 2006. And Charlotte’s mining industry is no exception. From November 2009 to last November, the mining, logging and construction sector lost the most jobs and had [...]
In an area where much of the business development is clustered near the highways, The Shoppes at Highland Creek shopping center, at the intersection of Prosperity Church and Ridge roads in north Charlotte, is somewhat off the beaten path. Four miles from the nearest Interstate 85 exits to the east and four miles to the [...]
A road that would bypass the congested U.S. Highway 74 eastbound to Monroe sounds like it would mean smooth sailing for motorists. The project will cost between $750 million and $825 million to build and include 20 miles of toll road from Highway 74 and Interstate 485 in eastern Mecklenburg County to the town of [...]
As Republicans regain the majority in the U.S. and North Carolina House of Representatives and the state Senate, it’s not known what the political changes will mean for major transit projects in the Charlotte region. Some hear squealing brakes. For John Szmer, assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, [...]
Providence Road between the Mecklenburg County line and Rea Road will open to traffic Friday if weather permits, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Scurry Construction of Cornelius was awarded an $18 million contract to widen 3 1/2 miles of the road from south of Interstate 485 to south of Rea Road Extension in [...]
(Editor’s note: Part of an occasional series on growth of communities outside Charlotte) Business owner Tana Greene remembers when the only place to eat in the Lake Norman area was the Ham and Eggs restaurant at Exit 28 off Interstate 77 in Cornelius. “It was the cheesiest little greasy spoon you have ever seen in [...]
North Carolina’s Amtrak Piedmont, the Amtrak train that travels between Raleigh and Charlotte four times daily, saw a 46 percent increase in ridership in fiscal 2010, the largest increase among Amtrak routes in the nation, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The Piedmont train’s increased number of riders stemmed in part from the [...]
Charlotte has received $16.9 million in State Street Aid funding from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the largest amount given to 508 total municipalities across the state. Funds from State Street Aid, also known as the Powell Bill Fund, can be used for building or maintaining roads. The money can also be spent on [...]