CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's been talk of widening Independence Boulevard for a long time.
Now that we know funding for Independence won't have to be used for Interstate 485, the focus is back on Independence.
"I think it's great. I think they need to widen it," said Charles Rush, owner of Carpet Discount Warehouse located on Independence Boulevard.
Almost anyone who drives on the road agrees.
"I feel like it should've been done 30 years ago," said Rush.
It looks like Rush won't have to wait much longer to see the current changes on the table get the green light. Those plans would stretch all the way to I-485 in Matthews.
"The possibility of finishing the widening of Independence all the way out to 485, that's about a 5 or 6 mile project," said Lee Myers, chairman of Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization.
That's much farther than the original plan of 1.2 miles from Sharon Amity Road to Conference Drive.
"If we can do Independence Boulevard, let's do it all at one time," said Myers.
He said that would cut down on the time to complete the project and save money.
"You know when you start and then you stop and you start and you stop, it really gets more expensive," said Myers.
Ed Garber, chairman of the Eastside Political Action Committee, says that's the way it should be.
"It's a very good thing that they speed up the widening of Independence Boulevard instead of doing it incrementally," said Garber. "It's taken 30 years to do three miles."
But Garber is concerned about what happens after the proposed widening project is completed.
"A lot of businesses may be destroyed or the business may be cut off because of the high speed of traffic and the medians," he said.
But Rush doesn't seem to be worried.
"I like it. I see nothing wrong with it. I got nothing against it. It's just progress," he said.
