The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is planning and designing a $600 million, four-lane highway that will span three counties in the Lake Norman region.
According to NCDOT officials, expanding N.C. 73 from Lincoln County at the lake into Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties is vital to handling up to a 60%-percent increase in traffic expected by 2040.
“As the only Catawba River crossing between N.C. 150 (in Mooresville) and N.C. 16 (in eastern Lincoln County, not including Denver), N.C. 73 is a regionally important route,” NCDOT says on the project page.
The 22-mile project also includes improving the I-77 Exit 25 interchange at N.C. 73/Sam Furr Road near Birkdale Village in Huntersville.
The project calls for 8.5 mile widening of N.C. 73 from N.C. 16 in Lincoln County to Northcross Drive in Huntersville. According to NCDOT, construction of that is expected to start in 2026, with the completion date still to be determined.
According to NCDOT, planning and design work also is underway to widen the second part of the project, a 14-mile, $348-million stretch from N.C. 115 in Huntersville to U.S. 29 in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties.
Officials said construction on that is expected to begin in 2026.
--------------------------------------------------------
Source: AOL
