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Commissioners endorse five intersection designs; Indian Trail/Wesley Chapel option deferred
Summary
After a year-long Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization-funded study, the board endorsed locally preferred designs and cost estimates for five of six critical intersections included in the study and explicitly chose no preferred alternative for the Rogers/Wesley Chapel (Indian Trail) intersection, deferring further action.
The Union County Board of Commissioners on June 2 endorsed locally preferred designs and cost estimates for five of six intersections included in a county design study funded by the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO). County senior planner Bjorn Hansen presented results of the year-long Critical Intersections Design and Cost Estimation Study and described the public outreach and alternatives analysis.
Hansen said the project examined six intersections flagged in prior county studies and looked 20 years ahead to 2050 for useful life and long-term traffic patterns. He told the board that rising traffic and changing crash patterns have made single-lane roundabouts less universally effective: "It used to be that we could throw a single lane roundabout down at a lot of locations and it was gonna be okay. But... the 184 in Potter now is redesigned as an, frankly, an exotic intersection design because roundabouts can be exceeded and we're seeing that in other locations. So, in some instances, roundabouts just weren't going to work," Hansen said.
Public outreach drew more than 400 responses across surveys and virtual meetings. For the intersection in Wesley Chapel (near Billy Howie and Waxhaw–Indian Trail corridor), Hansen said the recommended low-cost approach was to expand turn lanes and add a signal; estimated construction costs were shown both in 2025 dollars and a year-of-expenditure projection to account for inflation and contingencies.
The board debated the Indian Trail / Rogers & Wesley Chapel intersection, where staff presented three alternatives (including a quadrant roadway that would require significant right-of-way acquisition). Commissioners said they were not willing to approve a design that would cut through private yards and opted instead to take no alternative for that location at this time.
Board action: Commissioner Malcolm moved to approve the recommended designs for the other five intersections and to take "no alternative" on the Rogers/Wesley Chapel intersection; the board approved the motion by voice vote.
Next steps: Staff will finalize the consultant report and pursue appropriate grant opportunities (CRTPO and NCDOT) in future funding cycles; Hansen said the county is unlikely to apply for CRTPO funds in the immediate fall cycle because available local match has been committed and that actual project delivery would likely be several years after funding is secured due to design, right-of-way and utility work.
Provenance and public engagement: Local municipal boards had already reviewed and endorsed recommended designs for five municipalities; the Town of Indian Trail decided not to endorse any of the presented alternatives for Rogers/Wesley Chapel and asked to defer further action.
