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Lowell council debates $454,000 municipal share for I‑85 aesthetic "betterments"
Summary
Representatives from the MPO and NCDOT presented a package of aesthetic improvements for the I‑85 widening. Council members split over whether Lowell should pay its roughly $454,060 municipal share; the transcript records extended debate and an ambiguous vote result.
Randy Gates of the regional MPO briefed Lowell’s City Council on proposed aesthetic "betterments" for the I‑85 widening — including brick veneer on bridges, medallions and roundabout landscaping — and presented price alternatives for Exits 22 and 23, the Grove Street bridge and South Church Street work.
Gates said the full package totaled about $1,225,000; NCDOT would participate with roughly $831,530, leaving municipal participation for Lowell of about $454,060.26. She said the brick veneer and some landscaping are "one‑shot" items that cannot be retrofitted after the project is complete and described a 10‑year payment option that would spread the city’s share at about $45,406 per year.
NCDOT representative Michael Penny…
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