I-26 aesthetics committee proposes art, landscaping and lighting for new Patton Avenue bridge; NCDOT and city to fund improvements

The I-26 Aesthetics Advisory Committee presented an updated set of recommendations on Sept. 9 to soften the visual and neighborhood impacts of the new I-26 bridge crossing over Patton Avenue. Ted Figura, committee chair, said the committee was convened after design-bid changes required the interstate to be carried over Patton Avenue rather than routed beneath it. The committee’s recommendations focus on four funding categories: elements NCDOT will fund from the project budget, items within existing city commitments (including up to $405,000 freed by other project changes), landscape improvements paid from the project’s landscape budget (city will cover maintenance later), and discretionary city improvements after construction. Committed NCDOT contributions described at the meeting include more than $900,000 for improvements, installation of conduit for future LED under-bridge display lighting, Monticello-style pole lighting conduit along the Monticello greenway, a recommended color scheme for concrete and metal, reduced high-mast interstate lighting to protect dark skies, and minimization of sign clutter and noise impacts. NCDOT agreed to provide pedestrian-safety lighting under the bridge and pay the utility bills for those lights. City-responsibility recommendations that can be funded from already-committed municipal agreement funds include widening the Smith Mill Creek multi-use path to extend a cycle track (estimated cost $277,000) and applying a decorative pattern (stack-stone form liner) to the parapet; NCDOT offered to cover $235,000 of the parapet form liner cost, leaving a $74,100 city share to be paid from existing funds. The committee recommended public art and under-bridge LED displays to make the area more active and discourage encampments; the committee and City Council liaison also urged the city to plan activation strategies for the land north of the bridge—recreation, stormwater management and landscaping—to discourage long-term encampments. Committee members emphasized that public-art selections should be made by the city’s Public Art and Culture Commission. Council members thanked the committee for detailed recommendations but reiterated concerns about the larger project impacts and noted alternative solutions used by other cities, including caps and boulevard conversions that reclaim right-of-way for community use. The committee said that if later evaluation shows I-26 can be routed under Patton, it would revert to its earlier recommendations (which did not call for aesthetic treatments) but would keep multi-use path proposals.