The project team recently mailed out newsletters that summarized the workshop we conducted in January. In that newsletter we responded to the top three issues raised during the workshop. Since we couldn’t include every concern we heard during the meeting in the newsletter we’ve summarized the remaining issues and included them below.
If we’ve missed an issue or if you would like to provide further comments please contact
Imad Fakhreddin at 704-336-7926.
Comment
Based on the simulations shown during the presentation, a cross-section with one lane northbound and two lanes southbound seems to makes sense.
Response
Although we did not present this scenario in the public meeting, this may be a viable option and we will consider this alternative during the traffic analysis.
Comment
There is a proposed church at the intersection of Rea and Colony; how will that impact traffic?
Response
The church, called Peace Moravian Church, is proposed to be 18,250 square feet and is shown below. Based on churches of comparable size, this church could be expected to generate approximately 170 vehicle trips on a weekday, and between 10 and 15 trips during morning and afternoon rush hours. These anticipated volumes will not create a significant impact on the traffic we are studying for Rea Road, although we will take the church and its driveway into account when it comes time to design the improvements to
Rea Road.

Comment
The project team’s assumption that the number of vehicles turning onto and off of Rea Road at neighborhood streets will stay the same may not be correct if some properties inside existing neighborhoods are subdivided for more lots.
Response
Based on a review of tax maps and aerial photography, it appears there is very little opportunity to further subdivide any of the properties within existing neighborhoods along Rea Road. It appears most of the potential for development is in small tracts of land along Rea Road, which are not accessible internally from neighborhoods. This means that any traffic generated by development of these properties, while could affect the amount of traffic on Rea Road, would not affect the number of vehicles waiting to turn onto or off of the existing neighborhood street intersections.
Comment
The project team’s assumption that the proportion of turns at the intersection of Rea and
Colony will remain the same may be wrong considering the Southpark area still has potential for growth whereas land along Rea between Colony and Providence does not.
Response
It is possible that the traffic at the Rea Road and Colony Road intersection will become more directional over time. What we know is that today the total daily amount of vehicles on Colony Road just north of Rea is similar to the amount of vehicles on Rea Road east of Colony. We also know that at the intersection itself, there are far more vehicles driving continuing straight than there are turning in both the morning and afternoon rush hours.
Our model, which accounts for land development potential and travel time between locations indicates that the total number of cars on Colony Road just north of Rea, and
Rea east of Colony will continue to grow at about the same rate over the next 25 years.
Our assumption has been that since the growth in daily traffic is comparable on the two legs of the intersection, the proportion of turns at the intersection during rush hours will remain comparable to what it is today, which heavily favors the direction traveling north and south using Colony Road.
Comment
Some children in neighborhoods who do not drive now will soon reach driving age; should that impact our assumptions on traffic?
Response
The short answer is no, but here’s why. As we indicated during the public meeting, one of our assumptions about traffic is that single-family houses generate between 11 and 13 vehicle trips per day. The way we’ve arrived at this number is not by studying the neighborhoods along Rea Road to come up with that average. If we had, then that would mean if a large number of children reached driving age or conversely, a large number of residents reached retirement age such that they do not drive as often during rush hours, then our number might have to constantly be updated to reflect those changes and also

that those numbers would only be good for Rea Road. Instead the Charlotte Department of Transportation has conducted studies over the years of a much larger sampling of neighborhoods to develop an average that is more reliable and more stable. This range of
11-13 trips per day is one which is then unaffected by fluctuations in individual household driving behaviors. Factors which are more likely to affect this average trip rate are broader issues like economic vitality, fuel costs, vehicle costs, or other issues which might affect people’s lifestyles throughout communities. Our studies have indicated that
Charlotte has a higher rate of trips per household than published national averages. This could be from a combination of factors including above average economic conditions enabling more families to own more cars, and from Charlotte’s level of dependency on cars for transportation as opposed to transit or other modes.
Comment
Since people have gotten used to the current lane configuration on the northbound approach to the intersection of NC 51and Rea, could there be safety concerns about changing the current right-turn lane to a shared through and right-turn lane?
Response
Presently we do not know what the configuration of lanes might be at the intersection of
Rea and NC 51 because we still do not know what lanes might be included in any improvements to Rea Road. If there is only one lane in the northbound direction then the existing right turn lane would obviously have to remain as a right-turn only lane. On the other hand if there are two northbound lanes that right-turn lane could be restriped to become a combination through and right-turn lane. If this change occurs, people who are used to turning right will still be able to do so from that lane, but people who wish to continue straight would no longer have to move over into the lane to the left. We haven’t been able to identify any safety issues with this type of a change.
Comment
One way to improve congestion along Rea Road would be to give more green time to Rea
Road at signalized intersections.
Response
If it were only that simple, we might. As everyone knows, the problem is every additional second a signal shows green to Rea Road is a second that shows red to cars waiting on the other approaches like Carmel Road and NC 51. Our challenge is to always operate the signal so that it operates the most efficiently for everyone who travels through that intersection. We are constantly updating the operation of traffic signals in Charlotte to react to changing numbers of cars moving through the intersections. As part of any roadway improvements we make to Rea Road, we would optimize the operation of the signals at Colony, NC 51, and Carmel to minimize everyone’s delay on all approaches to the intersections.
Comment
Instead of just looking at models and numbers, the team should actually drive the corridor during rush hours.

Response
We know that models and numbers do not tell the whole story. Our project team has a wealth of first hand experience in this corridor, and a few team members travel the road regularly during rush hours. We create models and look at numbers because it’s the only way we can predict how things might change if we make changes to the roadway. Part of our analysis of these models involve ensuring they are accurate representations of actual traffic behavior in the area we are studying.
Comment
When did Rea Road become a thoroughfare? Can that designation be changed?
Response
Rea Road first showed up as a thoroughfare in 1977 when the first thoroughfare plan was developed to extend that far south in Mecklenburg County. The image below is from the official Mecklenburg-Union Thoroughfare plan. The heavier lines are classified as major thoroughfares, and the thinner lines are minor thoroughfares.
The only way to have a roadway added or removed from the thoroughfare plan is through the
Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Given that the nearest north south thoroughfares to Rea Road are Providence Road and Carmel Road, it is unlikely
Rea Road would be seriously considered for removal from the plan.
Comment
One way to improve Rea Road would be to provide a shoulder for buses to pull over.

Response
Both school buses and transit buses regularly travel up and down Rea Road and when they stop they cause everyone else to stop behind them. The problem with bus shoulders is two-fold. For school buses, even if the bus were to pull off onto a shoulder, it is still illegal for cars traveling in either direction to pass the stopped school bus, provided there is no median. While it is not illegal to pass stopped transit buses, the difficulty we have experienced is that after the buses have stopped it becomes difficult for them to merge back in with traffic and it is difficult for drivers to judge traffic in their side-view mirrors to gauge this maneuver.