Lake Norman has a traffic problem. We asked Huntersville mayor candidates how to fix it
Does Huntersville’s solution to traffic and growth woes lie in a $50 million measure on November’s ballot, an already approved plan or money the town is generating from taxes?
Huntersville mayoral candidates offered a series of solutions to fix two prominent issues in the northern Mecklenburg town that’s boomed in population. In 2010, the population was 46,773, according to the Census. When that number topped 63,000 in the most recent Census numbers, it was a reflection of the new development and the car traffic that came with it. The traffic in the Lake Norman area has grown so frustrating that towns in the area debated or implemented moratoriums on development.
As Huntersville’s population grows, a number of critical road projects, including a project to widen N.C. 73 from Huntersville to Denver, remain on hold by the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Three people running to be Huntersville’s mayor and chief problem solver — Christy Clark, Derek Partee and Dan Boone — offered different solutions to solving traffic woes. Current Mayor Melinda Bales is not running for reelection — instead seeking northern Mecklenburg County’s seat in the N.C. House.
Using town money to boost state projects
Boone, a current Huntersville Town Board member, told the Observer he would continue to use the town’s fund balance to move up transportation projects on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Organization (CRTPO) list. The CRTPO is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization= in charge of road projects for the Charlotte area.
The CRTPO Comprehensive Transportation Plan Report, released in 2020, includes more than 80 road projects for Huntersville, with estimated start dates between 2025 and 2045.
To move their projects up the list, towns can use money from their fund balances, which act partially as a savings account, to contribute to road projects, resulting in lower costs for the state, but higher costs for taxpayers, Boone said.
“If you have a million-dollar project, to move the needle, you have to put in a minimum of 25%, or $250,000,” Boone explained. “But with $250,000, our project might jump ahead of something in Matthews, Pineville or Troutman to get our roads in better shape before somebody else has an opportunity to get their roads done.”
In June 2022, Huntersville reported a combined fund balance of just over $77 million, a 3.1% decrease from the previous year, according to the town’s most recent yearly audit. Of that amount, the portion considered “unassigned” in the general fund was about $20.27 million. The audit for the most recent fiscal year, which ended in June of this year, hasn’t been published.
The decease was attributed “to funding multiple transportation, public improvement, park and greenway projects,” according to the report.
While Boone’s plan involves using town taxpayer dollars to fund road projects, Partee and Clark pointed to a plan the town created in 2020 to manage growth.
Controlling growth and development
Partee, a current Huntersville Town board member, blamed Huntersville’s traffic issues on the “tremendous uptick in development.”
Since 2020, city officials have approved more than 1,600 single-family homes and 1,200 multi-family units, according to the Huntersville Planning Deparment’s project map.
Partee and Clark, who offered similar solutions, said Huntersville should control growth using its 2040 Community Plan, a blueprint on how to manage its growing population.
According to the plan, Huntersville’s population is expected to increase by 74% between 2018 and 2040 to 106,567 people, impacting demand for housing and services.
The plan includes 25 major road improvements that will require funding from the state, including:
Widening N.C. 73 from N.C. 16 Business in Lincoln County to Beatties Ford Road
Widening U.S. 21 from Gilead Road to Holly Point Drive
Improvements to the intersection of Gilead Road and U.S. 21
Widening Poplar Tent Road from Derita Road to N.C. 73
Widening Gilead Road from McCoy Road to Wynfield Creek Parkway
“The 2040 plan is the guiding principle of our growth, not a mere suggestion,” Partee said, adding that he would create a citizens’ architectural review committee “to advise on how the design character can fit into the surrounding environment and be consistent with the 2040 plan.”
Clark, who served as a state representative for N.C. House District 98 in Huntersville from 2019-2020, said the plan “gives direction as to how development should grow,” and that “the town government should follow closely to this plan in order to manage growth responsibly.”
Clark also said she supports the town’s transportation bond, which would fund $50 million worth of road improvements.
Both the transportation bond and the mayoral candidates will appear on ballots for the Nov. 7 general election. Early voting starts Oct. 19.
