GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A plan to widen Interstate 85 in Gaston and Cleveland counties received a $100 million influx in funding from the Biden administration on Thursday.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation received the money to support the expansion and improvements on the highway from U.S. Highway 321 to Mount Holly.
A 10-mile stretch of I-85 would have an extra lane added in both directions and auxiliary lanes would be put in for interchanges. The project also calls for adding pedestrian and bike overpasses to connect areas that are divided by the interstate.
Last month, Channel 9 told you about the state’s efforts to mitigate the commuting nightmare on I-85 from Exit 27 in Belmont to Exit 17 in Gastonia.
Traffic Team 9′s Mark Taylor reports on crashes nearly every day along the stretch. He’s dubbed it “the Bermuda Triangle” for commuters in the Charlotte area.
“That’s Cramerton, Lowell, McAdenville, Belmont and Mount Holly, and one of the reasons it is, is because everyone is merging at the same time on the interstate from each of those towns,” he said.
Channel 9 learned 131,000 vehicles travel on that part of I-85 every day. By 2045, NCDOT thinks that number will increase by 40,000 or 50,000.
The national funding to support the project comes from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant program that awarded $1.5 billion for improvements and repairs nationwide.
“Today we are announcing transformative investments in our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and rail to improve the way Americans get around and help lower the costs of shipping goods,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Using funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are able to support more excellent community-led projects this year than ever before.”
Construction is expected to begin in 2024 and will be finished by 2030.
(WATCH BELOW: NCDOT planning I-77 shoulders north of Charlotte to be used at peak travel times)
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