If you are waiting for a project that is going to be very important for the landscape of the north mecklenburg area keep on reading. I have been following the process and believe that it is getting very close for this massive development to begin. I have included a recent article by a local Lake Norman, NC paper "The Lake Norman Herald Weekly" that updates the projects status.
Cornelius' most highly anticipated development recently celebrated another victory in its long trudge toward final approval. At a meeting April 29, the Technical coordinating Committee, an advisory committee for the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization, approved the recommendation of several road improvement projects, including a new interchange on Interstate 77associated with the 2.4 million-squarefoot mixed-use development Augustalee.
The TCC made its recommendation to MUMPO at the organization's April 29 meeting, when the final decision on local approval of the Augustalee road improvements was made. The TCC approved a request by Augustalee developer Cornelius Bromont to amend MUMPO's thoroughfare plan to include a new interchange at mile 27 on I-77 and the construction of Jim Cooke Road, a new flyover that would extend from the sharp curve at Bailey Road just east of the Oakhurst community and westward across I-77. MUMPO's thoroughfare plan doesn't include the interchange, and although it does reflect the Jim Cooke Road flyover, the road alignment Bromont requested differs slightly from MUMPO's plan.
In a separate vote, the TCC also approved adding the new interchange and Jim Cooke Road, as well as another four Augustalee-associated road improvement projects, to the regional Transportation Improvement Plan, the list of priority road improvements that guides the funding and construction of transportation projects.
The TCC presented its recommendation to MUMPO earlier this week, when MUMPO was expected to cast its vote on amending the TIP.Josh Rector, senior vice president of Cornelius Bromont, said the TCC's vote was another approval necessary to move the mega-development project closer to ground-breaking. "It's just one more step in the right direction," Rector said.
Bromont also got a thumbs up this week from the Charlotte City Council, which voted unanimously to endorse amending the thoroughfare plan and TIP to include Bromont's road improvements.
The recent approvals can be at least partially credited to Cornelius elected officials and town staff, who've lobbied actively for Augustalee. TCC Chairman Wayne Herron said the town and residents' support compelled him to approve the road improvements.
"There is a desire from a large number of citizens and elected officials that we do things like this to improve the quality of life for our citizens. Whether it does improve the quality of life, that's a debate we could have," Herron said. "I'm trying to put myself in Cornelius' shoes, because they're the ones making the request. If it was my community, I'd be doing the same thing."
Augustalee, formerly known as The Village at Lake Norman, includes retail, office and residential construction on 104 acres between I-77 and Highway 21, just south of Westmoreland Road.
The project includes $90 million of road improvements Bromont will build and pay for up front. Among the improvements are the exit 27 interchange on I-77 and the Jim Cooke Road flyover, as well as widening I-77 to three lanes in each direction from just south of exit 23 to exit 28; widening Westmoreland Road to four lanes between West Catawba Avenue and Highway 21; widening Highway 21 to four lanes between Westmoreland Road and N.C. 73; and building a Northcross Drive Extension, which would intersect with the new Jim Cooke Road west of I-77 and connect north to Westmoreland Road via a tiein with Eagleridge Way Lane.
