CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For voters in the city of Charlotte, there were more than just candidates on the 2022 midterm election ballot -- there were three bond referendums.
Voters approved the transportation bonds, housing bonds and neighborhood improvement bonds. As all were approved, $146.2 million will go to fund street projects, $50 million for housing will go directly to the city's housing trust fund, and $29.8 million to bolster infrastructure in neighborhoods.
City leaders previously told WCNC Charlotte's Fred Shropshire the money invested from the bond would come at no additional cost to taxpayers by way of the Capital Investment Plan. The CIP is a long-range investment program designed to meet the community's needs brought on by growth.
“One of the main reasons Charlotte has been so successful over the last 20... 30... 40 years is because of the investments of the transformational leaders made back then," Senior VP of Government Affairs Charlotte Regional Business Alliance Joe Bost explained Wednesday.
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City of Charlotte Transportation Bonds
The transportation bonds will pay for road and intersection projects, upgrades to traffic control systems, walkability and pedestrian safety enhancements and repairs to bridges, sidewalks, and bikeways in Charlotte.
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The entire city could see improvements. More than $50 million of that was slated to go to sidewalks and pedestrian safety and $20 million to improve intersections, with another $6 million reserved by the city for the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure.
City of Charlotte Housing Bonds
The $50 million for the housing bonds will go directly to the city's housing trust fund, which the city has spent hundreds of millions on in recent years to keep climbing costs and dwindling home supplies under control.
In 2018 and 2020 voters approved $100 million collectively -- attracting private-sector help that often exceeded a monetary match.
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Examples of housing trust fund dollar projects include the Tall Oaks Redevelopment within the Cherry Community; the city also spent $5.8 million to renovate the Men's Shelter of Charlotte, and $17 Million went to an affordable development with 112 units: a 60-unit senior housing building, 29 townhomes and a 23-unit garden-style apartment building in Belmont.
City of Charlotte Neighborhood Improvement Bonds
The neighborhood improvement bonds will specifically address six key corridors as defined by the city of Charlotte: Beatties Ford/Rozzelles Ferry, Central/Albemarle, Freedom/Wilkinson, I-85/West Sugar Creek, North Tryon/Graham and West Boulevard.
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Developments for the bond will include new sidewalks, bike lanes, street and pedestrian lights, and storm drainage -- along with landscaping.
“They’re truly interconnected," Bost said. "You're not able to get to your job, if you don't have a good transportation system and people have to be able to afford to live here and feel safe in their neighborhoods."
Meanwhile, as growth and development takes place in certain areas, Charlotteans like Woo Kim, hope the investment really does touch all parts of the community.
“Most of the construction right now is isolated in certain areas, South Boulevard, NoDa, but I just hope it’s spread out equally,” Kim said.
Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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