Charlotte business leaders heard [last week] from the state’s top two lawmakers on a range of issues, with closest attention paid to their views on transportation and transit, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.
The mayor and Republican councilman Ed Driggs, chair of council’s transportation committee, both attended [the] event at CLT Alliance.
“A comprehensive plan is critical,” Moore said. “I know the city is working on a proposal to look at things that can be done. We certainly want to see that, we want to be engaged, we want to make sure there are varying viewpoints that are brought forth on that.”
Moore joked about riding his mountain bike up Interstate 85 to uptown Charlotte, a winking reference to his dismissal last year of bike paths, greenways, and other transit and mobility projects at the expense of roads.
Mostly, the speaker took a less-combative stance on transit and transportation, emphasizing a roads-first approach but declining to rule out a plan that includes some rail and transit projects. And he touted a forthcoming $45 million makeover of the congested interchange in west Charlotte at Interstate 85 and Interstate 485 that Moore funded through discretionary state funding.
“The top priority has to be roads,” he added. “That’s where traffic issues have to be dealt with.”
Berger, too, said a revamped Charlotte proposal will be the starting point. The senate president’s view is likely more important to the plan’s prospects since Moore is running for Congress and will leave the legislature later this year.
Supporters of transit expansion, including City Manager Marcus Jones, have said that the 2025 long session in Raleigh is when talks with the state are likely to reach a conclusion.
“Transportation is one of those issues that a growing state has to get right,” Berger said. “Roads has got to be the bulk of it.”
Berger and Moore, as they did last year, lamented both a persistent lack of funding for transportation and unpopular options for generating additional revenue.
Berger mentioned the shift to using a portion of sales tax revenue for transportation, started in 2022, as a positive step but not nearly enough.
“We’ve got to have something that engages both the state and the local governments in a solution to these transportation issues, particularly in our urban areas,” Berger said. “And we’re not there yet. I don’t know that we’ll get there.”
He added that raising the gas tax or increasing other taxes for transportation is unlikely. Consensus with local governments is a must for finding solutions, he believes.
CLT Alliance Chief Advocacy Officer Joe Bost said that transit and transportation remain a top priority for investment and growth.
Bost said he heard “a willingness to collaborate with the business community” from Berger and Moore on mobility and other issues.
The full article is available in the Charlotte Business Journal.
