DOT Public Meeting for 40/42 and Cornwallis

Whoa! Just asking. Geez.

 

Public transit in this area is a huge joke. I'd be all in for it if it actually was viable like it is in Europe. But in the US and in Raleigh specifically, it is horrible. Trains are no better than buses here, it takes longer to get anywhere from Raleigh by train than by car, and it's not cheap either.

Not trying to be mean towards you, that was directed at the DOT and Triangle Transit.

When there is no traffic, like if I drive to the office on a weekend morning, it takes me 30-35 minutes. Which is totally reasonable. But when it takes double or even triple that due to traffic, there is something seriously wrong with the way traffic is being managed.

 

Not trying to be mean towards you either jesse, but what you want here in NC in the form of public transportation can't be achieved without higher, much higher taxes. The buses are already heavily subsidized. Those trains, with cheap fares, you want would have to be ridiculously subsidized. All of that subsidizing comes from your, my, and everyone else's taxes.

You only have three solutions to your problem. Move closer to your job, move to somewhere else with acceptable (to you) roads and/or public transportation, or stay where you are and just deal with it like the rest of us do.

What else can you do?

 

I don't think public transit is the answer here in our part of NC. But how about moving along the DOT road projects at a schedule that makes sense. Not building to meet the needs of 2-3 years ago. We should be building to meet the needs of 10-15 years from now. Like I said previously, if it takes building 540 as a toll road out I40, then so be it. I know I would easily pay for the toll every day. Or put in a dedicate HOV style lane on I40 that is an express lane from the 440/40 split to US1 and to 540. You could even toll that. People would pay. Or raise the gas tax to pay for it, 2-3 cents per gallon more is all it would take to pay for most of the DOT projects needed in the state.

 

Not to get political here, but the Republican controlled government in NC is too busy cutting taxes. I don't believe that they are in the mood to be raising the gas tax again. We already have some of the highest gas taxes in the Southeast. Where is that money going, who knows?

If you want higher taxes for transportation, then help put the Democrats back in power. They usually do not disappoint in that area. Now that is political.

 

NC has more miles of state owned roads than any other state in the country, that is why our gas tax is so high. Most states have county DOTs that do a majority of the roads, and they are funded from property taxes and other means typically. So we have lower property taxes, but high gas taxes. Which is actually more fair, since that is more closely related to the amount of miles you drive on the roads per year. How would you feel to pay $12k a year in property taxes, but yet you rarely ever leave the house, while your neighbor pays the same and has a 50 mile commute each way each day.

Table 4: State-Controlled Highway Mileage, 2009
Rank State Mileage
1 NC 80,214
2 TX 80,212
3 VA 58,142
4 PA 43,612
5 SC 41,613
6 WV 34,596
7 MO 33,638
8 KY 27,891
9 OH 20,394
10 GA 18,283
11 CA 18,260

http://reason.org/files/20th_annual_highway_report.pdf

 

But what gets me is of all the states I have lived in (NJ, DE, FL, NC) and all the states I have worked in (NJ, DE, FL, NC,NY, PA, MD) North Carolina is the only state that I have had to pay property tax yearly on a vehicle. What happens with that money? Over the years I have considered registering vehicles at family members home just to be able to stick it to the NC tax collectors. But I haven't Yet.

Over the years I had heard that the legislators were trying to change the gas tax to more of a mileage tax. Because cars are getting better fuel economy they are losing money. And they would make it up on drivers who drive more. Heck the speedometer sensor had gone out on my car and I lost about 2k miles off the odometer. What's stopping people from disconnecting the speedometer.

 

They don't want to go by the odometer, they want to put GPS tracking in your car to see how many miles you drive in NC.

And you just got lucky based on the states you lived in for your car, most states do charge personal property tax.
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/tpp_map_web_large.png

 

And if it does come down to putting GPS tracking in my car then my car will then reside in Florida.

Yea but is that a one time property tax or is it yearly like NC does? I've paid tax on the initial investment and that's it

 

Agreed, however for arterial roads this is going to have to fall on local governments to get with the program from a planning perspective. Developers are already required to put in turn lanes and some small road improvements, but there is no significant push to look at things from a big picture and Hwy 42 between I-40 and Clayton is becoming a case study in that regard.

 

Thousands of people moving here and paying 10% of what they did in NJ is a prominent reason for a less than adequate highway system here. You should have no complaints. They brought a new traffic load to the area and aren't paying for it. They should be happy with what they do have at a 90% discount.

 

Property taxes may be lower, but that is mostly due to lack of services. I live in an unincorporated area. NJ doesn't even have any unincorporated areas. So a lot of those property taxes go to the local and county government. Property taxes in NJ pay for trash pickup, the library, open space, snow removal, local roads, local schools, FD, PD, etc. In NC most of that money comes from the state taxes (sales tax, gas tax, income taxes, etc.)

Gas taxes in NC are double what NJ is, NJ has the 2nd lowest gas tax in the nation. Gas taxes are what is supposed to go to pay for the highways.

 

Excuse me?

Radburn, Sicomac, and Koreatown are all unincorporated communities within my home county of Bergen in New Jersey. There are many unincorporated communities in New Jersey. Fewer in the metro areas, but lots more in the farming areas.

 

Oh, look! Something else Palisade knows nothing about. I am not from New Jersey and even I know there are not unincorporated areas in New Jersey. You are referring to communities within incorporated areas similar to Mordecai, or South Park in Raleigh.

Radburn is in the town of Fairlawn
Sicomac is in the town of Wycoff
Koreatown is basically an area where Korean immigrants have gathered to make a community (this does not constitute an incorporated area)

You lack of basic geographic knowledge is astounding.

You're excused.

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/gis/maps/polnoroads.pdf

http://www.njaeo.us/NJ Government.pdf

https://wiki.waze.com/wiki/New_Jersey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government_in_New_Jersey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_area

 

Would it be repetitive if I changed my screen name to Don'tCareHowYouDoItInNJ?

 

I don't know Cleo. I thought of changing mine to moveyoassbacktoNJ.:jester:

 

Thanks Harvey. I guess some people are just not educated. I remember learning about NJ being completely incorporated back in grade school, many, many years ago. One of five states with no unincorporated areas.

 

Maybe some new info on this: http://www.garnercleveland.com/2014...eks-comments-on-project.html?sp=/99/586/1171/

Three alternatives suggested. Each one, in my opinion, does not do enough by itself. Adding an interchange at Cleveland school near Westview Elementary is not going to solve anything because the highway will be jammed up with people merging (or not merging for that matter). DOT reactionary stance is bad enough, but the county planning contingent is 10 times more responsible for the mess that DOT and our tax dollars are having to fix. Stop cramming stuff into every empty lot you can find at 42!

 

Diverging Diamond Interchange Visualization

Looks like it only helps those exting I-40 headed east on Hwy 42. Those heading west on Hwy 42 still have major stacking. Hwy 42 is not designed to handle peak traffic with all the businesses on both sides of Hwy 42 at 4042. Seems to me better solution would be I-40 interchange at I-40 & Cornwallis or I-40 and & Cleveland Road.
Don't live out there. Just a nightmare to get through Hwy 42 and I-40 from Clayton for some of our favorite dining locations west of I-40. Seems Diverging Diamond Interchange will make this area worse on Hwy 42.
Just my 2 cents worth!

 

Well, I agree that this does not solve any of the I40 problems. But I do like option 3, it would make getting around the area pretty nice. I am very interested to see what one of these strange interchanges looks like in person.

And NC42 at I40 is only going to get bigger and more congested. It is a designated growth area and only going to have more commercial in the future. It is inevitable.

Found this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLAwwl3EtN4