It has been announced that the Queen City of Charlotte, North Carolina has been chosen as the site of the 2012 Democratic National Convention. This is a wonderful choice, and up until Friday of last week, I was excited for the Queen City, and for the South.(we finally get to show our wonderful region and political wherewithall) My excitement diminished a good bit Friday though has I made my bi-weekly trip down I-85 into town. Mind you, I am not at all opposed to Charlotte, the people of Charlotte, or Democrats.
The weekend of March 2-4, Charlotte hosted the C-IAA basketball tournament in Time-Warner Arena. The event brought twelve HBC basketball teams, alumni, and the black community to Charlotte to celebrate culture, sport, and fashion. It also brought a great deal of traffic both in town and into town. This is to be expected for such a event, but the influx of traffic put a huge strain on the already weak interstate system around Charlotte.
As I stated before, I make a bi-weekly trip to Charlotte, so I feel as though I can comment about this matter with some authority. My trip into town took a complete hour longer than normal and I was met with traffic earlier on I-85. In addition to meeting traffic earlier, it was worse than usual. Typically traffic moves at 20 m.p.h slower than the posted speed limit from the Charlotte side of Kannapolis. Friday I was met outside Kannapolis with slower traffic and by the Concord Mills exit it was a parking lot. Much of this was caused by a narrowing of the roads for construction that will doubtfully be done by September. I would recommend adding an hour and a half at peek travel times for the convention.
If I-85 is not you planned route for entering Charlotte, take head of the perils faced on I-77. This area is compounded by construction as well as multiple mergers that slow the pace of traffic further. This work will not be done by September either, and you can expect to wait as much or longer in traffic trying to enter town. Traffic usually starts around the Lake Normal exits, but I would venture to say that it could be back up as far as Statesville on the week of the Convention.
Once in Charlotte, I was met at every turn (literally) with heavy traffic. Downtown, traffic patterns were disrupted and delays were common. On the periphery, traffic long waits at red lights were the norm, and frequently people continued through lights even once they were green. Finally the amount of people lost or confused tripled if not doubled. Charlotte's roads are confusing enough as it is, compound that with being from out of town and you have a dangerous mixture. My suggestion would be to ride the city light rail when possible or take the bus. Charlotte public transit in okay, but not great, but is a much safer and fast way of getting around in heavy traffic.
If you are planning to visit Charlotte for the convention, do not let my warnings deter you. Charlotte is a great city, full of really nice people and enjoyable things to do. What I am suggesting is allow for more than standard times to get into town. If your estimated time of travel suggests 3 hours, count on 4 to 5 if traveling at peak times. Once you are in town, walk or take public transit to the places you are going. Before I let you go I will call upon you (those who are planning or considering the convention) to write city officials in Charlotte to let them know about the traffic situations before hand. Yes, they are aware of the construction, yes they are prepared for the potential delays, but with gas prices what they are, it would behoove you to let officials know that you will likely not enjoy wasting time in traffic. You might add too that you will be less likely to spend money once you are in Charlotte if you having to increase you fuel bill for having sat in traffic for hours.
Contact Information for Charlotte Officials
Mayor Foxx
600 East 4th Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
North Carolina Department Of Transportation
http://www.ncdot.org/contact/
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