Information Items:
Construction continues on the NASCAR Hall of Fame and associated road improvements.
Caldwell Street/Stonewall Street Intersection
The intersection of Caldwell Street and Stonewall Street will be closed Friday, October 12, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. until Monday, October 15, 2007 at 6:00 a.m. This closure is necessary to repair a water line leak.
East bound Stonewall Street traffic is encouraged to use College Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to McDowell Street. West bound Stonewall Street traffic is encouraged to use McDowell Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Brevard Street. Detours will be posted. Inbound Caldwell Street will be reduced to one lane and diverted around the work zone. This diversion will direct drivers to Stonewall Street where they will be detoured to McDowell Street and then to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
NASCAR Hall of Fame
By spring of 2010, Charlotte's newest attraction will open - the NASCAR Hall of Fame. For visitors from the Charlotte region and across the country, this one-of-a-kind facility will capture the spirit of racing, honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR and create an enduring tribute to the competitors and others who have impacted the sport. The $107.5 million Hall of Fame site is located in the block adjacent to the Charlotte Convention Center, between Brevard and Caldwell Streets and Stonewall and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Road Improvements
The I-277/Caldwell Interchange Project (NASCAR Hall of Fame Road Improvements) will reconstruct several ramps on I-277 and modify Stonewall, Caldwell and Brevard Streets along with Martin Luther King Boulevard in uptown Charlotte. When completed, the area in and around the interchange will be pedestrian and bicycle friendly and accommodate development of the future NASCAR Hall of Fame site. Construction of the interchange project is scheduled to be complete when the NASCAR Hall of Fame opens in 2010.
The second of three planned Post Construction Controls stakeholders meetings, as requested by Council, was conducted on Thursday, October 4, 2007. The meeting consisted primarily of presentation and discussion on the following cost analyses:
- The detailed local cost analysis, as prepared by a local engineering/development firm for City Council (this analysis has also been presented to the Environment Committee);
- A cost analysis prepared and presented by the Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition; and,
- A cost analysis prepared and presented by a representative of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (specifically highlighting an industrial site).
The stakeholders discussed results of the cost analyses and identified new areas of concern in light of the information given in the three cost presentations. The stakeholders agreed to continue the discussion at a subsequent meeting.
The final stakeholder meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hal Marshall Building. Council is encouraged to attend the meeting if possible. The Supplemental Stakeholder Report is scheduled to be submitted to Council on Friday, November 2, 2007.
The City of Charlotte divided residential refuse collection into four zones when managed competition began in 1994. Currently, city employees provide services to three of the four zones (North, South, and East) with Inland Service Corporation, a private contractor providing services to the West Zone.
In 2004, the City received proposals from the City's Solid Waste Services Key Business Unit and Inland Service Corporation to provide residential refuse collection for 90 gallon rollout containers, recycling, yard waste and bulky items for approximately 51,000 households in the East Zone. The City's Solid Waste Services Key Business Unit submitted a proposal that was approximately $1,000,000 less expensive over an initial five year contract term than the private sector proposal. The City's proposal was deemed the best value for provision of residential refuse collection in the East Zone and the City's Solid Waste Services KBU began providing services under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2005.
In July of 2006 Solid Waste Services balanced workload between the four zones by reassigning approximately 6,000 households from the East Zone to the South Zone; leaving approximately 45,000 households in the East Zone.
The Privatization and Competition Advisory Committee (PCAC) and the City Manager's Office have closely monitored costs for the East Zone by review of quarterly audits compiled by the City's Internal Audit staff. The current MOU for the East Zone which began on July 1, 2005 has accumulated costs approximately 9% to date overbid, which equates to $841,686 over the approved bid.
Pursuant to the adopted managed competition policy, the City Manager is considering cancelling the East Zone MOU and conducting a new managed competition for the East Zone by issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) with a service start date of July 1, 2009. PCAC will be made aware of the City Manager's perspective at their regular monthly meeting October 11, 2007. City Council and PCAC will be updated periodically throughout any managed competition process.
The National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) unveiled the results of the 2007 National Traffic Signal Report Card yesterday at Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. The NTOC asked transportation agencies across the country to complete a self-assessment survey. The results would allow the organization to create a "state-of-the-practice" report for the areas of traffic signal systems operations and traffic management. The Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT) was among 417 agencies, representing 47 states, responding to the survey.
Our overall score for the 2007 assessment is 72, compared to a 65 for the national average. We scored well in three of the five areas, which are the areas that most directly impact what citizens experience at our traffic signals. For these three areas, which pertain to signal operations and timing practices, our score of 84 is well above the national average of 68. This reflects that we have focused our limited resources on the activities that provide the most benefit for the dollars spent.
This is the second National Traffic Signal Report Card. The first survey was released in 2005 and CDOT also participated in that survey. The 2007 survey was slightly different from the first one. Some questions were new and others were removed, while some questions remained the same but required a higher level of infrastructure or resource commitment for a "top score". Changes in the survey make it difficult to compare results. While the overall score was lower than the 88 received in 2005, we have made improvements in traffic signal operations and traffic
management over the last two years.
Some of those improvements are:
- replaced over 100 obsolete traffic signal controllers;
- installed 26 miles of fiber optic cable for signal communications;
- added 27 traffic management cameras;
- expanded our Traffic Management Center;
- improved signal timing strategies;
- increased the number of signals linked to our central system from 20% to 40%.
We will continue to implement strategies for advancing Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capabilities that support related goals of the Transportation Action Plan (TAP). We will also investigate needs for additions or changes to traffic signal infrastructure, as well as review national standards and "best practices". Survey results provide valuable information as we consider the strategies that fit our City's needs.
The NTOC is an organization comprising transportation experts including the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American Public Works Association (APWA), the International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA), ITS America, US DOT-Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and many other organizations.
