CHARLOTTE — For bus riders, sitting in traffic on Independence Boulevard is a maddening experience, especially since there is a lane dedicated to buses that sits in the middle of the stretch currently unused. The lane was shut down for streetcar construction and never reopened.
In February 2022, Charlotte City Council unanimously approved a $750,000 contract for design work to prepare for the lane’s reopening. At the time, the city said the lane would reopen for buses by the end of 2022.
That didn’t happen, and it may not reopen anytime soon.
A spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Transportation said the department has to relocate the lane opening closer to the John Belk Freeway and Brookshire interchange.
According to NCDOT, when the new Hawthorne Lane Bridge was built, the center pier was placed in the eastbound lane.
NCDOT says bids are going out in the summer and construction is expected in the fall. The bus lanes are now expected to reopen in winter 2024.
A spokesperson for NCDOT did not say why the project didn’t open last year as originally scheduled, but said the 2022 Charlotte City Council vote was the first step in moving forward.
CATS did not return a request for comment.
(WATCH PREVIOUS: NCDOT planning to provide relief to busy stretch of Independence Boulevard)
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