Toll road alternative to Highway 74

This is an outrageous slap in the face to the folks of Union/Anson who've waited 30 years for
a NON toll bypass to be built. Democrackkks like
Aaron Plyler kept it from happening.

You are so correct but he has buddies that helped him. Don't forget Larry Helms, Pryor Gibson, and the late Carol Edwards.

PoDunk, North Carolina!!!!

The Toll Road is a commin'
The merchants along US 74 in Monroe have fought it but they've finally thrown in the towel.
Those Monroe merchants are going to lose a lot of business when those cars and trucks speed down the toll road at 70 miles an hour and bypass all those businesses on Roosevelt Boulevard.
The businesses and strip malls crowded on US 74 in Monroe will be like their counterparts in Rockingham NC when the toll road is finished.
Nobody travels US 74 in Rockingham anymore.
Everybody is blasting past Rockingham on the bypass.
The businesses on US 74 are closing their doors, Some are going bankrupt. Two motels and 4 national chain restaurants have closed since the bypass has been completed.
Somewhere down the road, far down the road past Monroe and Rockingham where there is no bypass or toll road the people who travel US 74 will stop for gas and a hamburger. Maybe they will want to spend the night in a nice hotel.New businesses will open to serve the travelers and the area will prosper.
Meanwhile the businesses along US 74 will struggle to stay open. Local traffic can't support all those businesses out on US 74 in Monroe.
Obama calls it redistribution of wealth---i guess.

Warren G Harding wrote:

The Toll Road is a commin'
The merchants along US 74 in Monroe have fought it but they've finally thrown in the towel.
Those Monroe merchants are going to lose a lot of business when those cars and trucks speed down the toll road at 70 miles an hour and bypass all those businesses on Roosevelt Boulevard.
The businesses and strip malls crowded on US 74 in Monroe will be like their counterparts in Rockingham NC when the toll road is finished.
Nobody travels US 74 in Rockingham anymore.
Everybody is blasting past Rockingham on the bypass.
The businesses on US 74 are closing their doors, Some are going bankrupt. Two motels and 4 national chain restaurants have closed since the bypass has been completed.
Somewhere down the road, far down the road past Monroe and Rockingham where there is no bypass or toll road the people who travel US 74 will stop for gas and a hamburger. Maybe they will want to spend the night in a nice hotel.New businesses will open to serve the travelers and the area will prosper.
Meanwhile the businesses along US 74 will struggle to stay open. Local traffic can't support all those businesses out on US 74 in Monroe.
Obama calls it redistribution of wealth---i guess.

Yes, it will be bad for the affected businesses, BUT, if they are smart they will figure out something. One upside (and downside)...it will open the affected counties to more Charlotte "suburbanization" so there will be more people living in the area. Rockingham and Hamlet could be beneficiaries as well.

BTW, what did the President have to do with this other than make the money available? It was a decision made by the State. And think of the jobs it will create.

However, it will be

not concerned; let em pay............ to ride it.. space mountain ain't free baby....

Space Mountain is the oldest ride in the park baby ; but it has the LONGEST LINE ALWAYS....
they all line up to ride...wooooooooooooooooo!!!!! !!

"nature boy" woooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

What's a quarter, Jackson Brwon........??

It cost more than that to buy a trojan out of a machine.........

Was it a lack of planning on the part of the DOT or did ugly politics (and ugly politicians) determine where the bypass would go?

wouldn't it have been MUCH cheaper for the state to have built the bypass south of Monroe instead of north of it?

Think about it. By going north of Monroe the road passes thru some of the most expensive real estate in the county. The state is going to disrupt hundreds of lives by forcing people to sell their homes when they by the right of way. if the road went south of Monroe it would pass mostly through undeveloped farmland.

By routing the bypass south of Monroe where land for the right of way would have been considerably cheaper the state could have saved several million dollars.

So why was it built north of Monroe? Look at who made out like a bandit by selling many, many acres of land to the state? Some of the names are hidden under corporation names, If you are a native Union Countian you will no doubt recognize the crooks, I mean land owners.

The US 74 Toll Road-Monroe Bypass needs to be renamed THE STUPIDITY ROAD. I have several reasons for suggesting such a change.

STUPID #1 First and foremost, if you have been a resident of Sweet Union for a good part of your life you know that this road project is over 20 years old! It was proposed in the mid to late 1980's. At that time construction, right of way purchases and incidentals would have built the damn thing for about 50 million. BUT NO! The state DOT did not get funding from the imbecile collective known as the NC State legislature who were too busy funding road and bridge construction in sparcely populated counties down east somewhere. Meanwhile US 74 through Monroe approached gridlock. The latest figures for construction of the STUPIDITY TOLL ROAD is estimated at 500 million PLUS

STUPID #2 The business owners along US 74 (Roosevelt Blvd-Independence Blvd) quickly realized that bypassing Monroe meant bypassing their businesses. They looked at the economic impact that new bypasses had in other areas and were fraught with fear and trepidation. The bypass around Rockingham NC for example, created a calamity along business 74 as several national chain businesses and locally owned businesses were forced to close. Thus business owners worked together and with lobbyists and enviiornmental groups to slow and possibly stop planning and construction. The endangered Carolina Heelsplitter Mussel and the rare Collier's Daisy were used by the enviornmentalist groups funded in part by US 74 businesses to slow and partially stop planning of the STTUPITY BYPASS

STUPID #3 When the road was first proposed planners from the DOT drew two preliminary plans. One bypass started on 74 east of Wingate NC and ran south and southwest creating an arc south of Monroe and returning to US 74 near Stallings, NC. It was called the "Southern Route". A second route, the "Northern Route" began in nearly the same place east of Wingate and wandered northward then northwestward, due west and rejoined US 74 near Indian Trail, NC. Planners estimated that the Southern route would be much less expensive since it passed through mostly undeveloped farmland. The northern route would necessarily have to pass through populated housing areas and expensive commercially developed property. Purchasing the right of way would be prohibitively expensive. When these facts became known certain developers and Union County politicians who owned land along the Northern Route began applying pressure in Raleigh. The "good ole boy" network sprung into action. Eventually the DOT was convinced by "advice" freely given from certain politicians, including the governor of the great state of NC, that the Northern Route would be best. Thus the northern Route was selected as the path of the STUPIDITY HIGHWAY.

STUPID #4 Certain developers and political figures who owned land or quickly bought land along the northern route under corporate names (to avoid being identified) began applying pressure on the DOT to "tweek" the primary Northern Route so that it would cross their land. Thus were born the 5 ALTERNATE routes. At least one of the new alternate routes meandered like a snake path crossing from one developers property to another and adding miles to the finally adopted compromise.

STUPID #5 The toll. Enough said! Ridiculous! Travel down east in sparsely populated Pender or Columbus Counties for example and take a look at the fine roads there. The taxpayers in those counties didn't pay for those fine roads. No sir, the taxpayers in the most populated parts of the state paid for those fine roads. They don't have tolls. The STUPIDITY HIGHWAY rolls on.....somewhere.

everyone on the NC Turnpike authority and those who created it should be SHOT for stinkin...sick of corrupt democrackkks!

Why don't you all stop talking and do something. That is what's wrong with our country, too much talking and not enough doing. I am all for the Toll Rd. Here is why, why don't you all check the stats on accidents and deaths everyday on Hwy 74 East and you will see why this road is needed. People are just fedup with waiting on lights, and getting ticketed every two or three miles because of change in the speed limits. So, please, if you don't have anything good to do or say, just shut the hell up and not ride anymore. Take the transit system or vote for light rail like what Charlotte did. To speak out loud that rail system serves a purpose alright, it is good for the drunks and illegal aliens that can't get a driver's license. So, we say we are not giving these people a free ride, yes, most definitely, we are spending millions to give them transportation, we already are giving them health care and jobs, so what else is left, why don't some of us give them our homes and we start living on the streets begging. This is the only thing that is left for us to do.

So, again, just don't say anything about the Hwy 74 Toll Rd if you can't do anything about it or will not lift a finger to get something done. Talking will not do anything people.

You are absolutely correct. Everyone talks but no one does anything. Take for instance if they do not want to tavel the toll road go the other way. I am so sick of all talk and no action. There would not be a toll if our famous lawmakers known as crooks had not spent the money. They built Opera Houses or pretended to. I don'tlike Opera so I will not go. Red Necks do not like Opera. I am not saying I am a red neck but people in the western part of the county think we are.

Hey, Yahoo from Marshville! Of course with a nick like that those stuckups in Weddington would call you a redneck!

However I too am a redneck from Marshville and PROUD of it!

Nothing wrong with being a redneck. Better than being a transplanted yankee who CLOGGED up our roads to begin with!!!!

Amen!!!!!! And another thing if those illegals would go home we would not need that toll road anyway. I have come to the conclusion they don't know the way home. They don't know which side of the road they are on. That still puzzles me, If you can't read how can you get drivers license? How can they fill out job applications written in English and get a job? Duh!!! You try to give them a speeding ticket or parking ticket, I speak no English but they have N C Drivers License. old Morth Carolina. The state of the free. Free food, free housing, free medical expenses everything here free. Well I don't know about you but i am tired of giving free stuff.

To all who are not against the Toll Rd. The Toll Road came about because someone have to pay for upkeep of the roads. By charging a fee to use the road only makes sense because we as tax payers wouldn't have to fund this also. I am positively all for the Toll Road. Would you prefer a bypass with no lights and 70mpg speed and all of us funding it? I believe this road will benefit all of us including the residents of Union County along with everyone who have to leave Anson, Union and neighboring cities to commute to Charlotte to work everyday. This road will benefit us, it will not take away from us. Yes, it will cost a little to use this road but nothing is free anymore. There will be frontage roads and back roads for those who don't want to pay to use the Toll Rd. Finally we are getting something done in Union County and people are rejecting the good. Good must take place to bring about quality of life for our elderly. Take for instance, if someone is really sick and needs immediate medical attention, that same Toll Rd will come in handy for Medics to get to that person quicker and save lives. I call upon all of our residents in Union County to really give it some thought and reunite for the better and give the go ahead for this Toll Road the go ahead because I believe in my heart it will better our lives in Union County. Some of us don't have the luxury to live in big cities, we have to live where we can have affordable homes and low taxes such as Union County countrystyle living. Presently the truckers are the ones who uses Hwy 74 to bring in foods to our cities. This Toll Road will assist the truckers to get the foods to our area grocery stores quicker. To bring this to a final I believe the truckers will pay lots of the Tolls because they are the ones who will be using this Toll Road frequently. Don't worry people, let change for the good begin. Thank you for considering and with God's speed this Toll Road will change all our lives for the better and bring good to our community and neighboring cities.

Yes, you are so correct. I would like to see more people like you speak up in this country. We must care for our elderly. We must have change and good roads especially on Hwy 74. I know someone in Marshville who especially moved to Marshville to help our elderly. Be good to yourselves in Union County and accept the Toll Rd. The writer above is so correct, the Truckers are the ones who will use this Toll Rd frequently and will pay most the Tolls, you all should see this Toll Rd as a luxury to your lives because it will bring good change in your communities and help in ways you can't imagine.

yes the toll road will help Marshville. No one is denying that. What is upsetting is the way this was thrust on us by the state. Like an earlier writer said, this road has been on the drawing board for over 20 years. The state chose the most expensive route because developers and politicians owned property along that route which the state bought or is buying at inflated prices.

Some people were forced to sell their property and move away.

This road project has been a boondoggle from the begining.

The state is now saying it will be completed in 2013.

In 1990 they said it would be completed in 1997.

OK, Griffin, I understand what you are saying and I know all about the changes and times everyone involved not only the State have changed dates and routes. I believe they were compelled to change the routes not only because of safety reasons but to save from having more people and more subdivisions move. I also believe the best route is what is proposed now. Let's hope for the best and hope all goes well for completion in 2013. I am concerned because my friends live in Marshville and although there will be a cost for Toll to go and see them, its better for them because they don't have to wait at seveal lights, waste gas, fall asleep at the wheel and be in accidents that is happening now on Hwy 74. This Toll Road will be a direct route to Marshville and back to Charlotte whether they go to visit with their doctors. There is lots of elderly in Union County that is very glad to accept this Toll Rd because not only will it take away the traffic from the alternative routes, frontage roads and other routes but it will make it safe for our residents in Union County, the ones who have been living and trying survive there for several years. Thank you kindly for understanding and I am thankful for the highway authorities and all those involved that is working on this Toll Rd to get it going and be finished with it for the good of the people in Union County and my friends there.