Garden Parkway

Preliminary costs are estimated (as of August, 2006) to be between $732 million and $1.568 billion, with final costs to be determined during design. The North Carolina Turnpike Authority has projected initial construction as beginning in the spring of 2010, with completion expected by the spring of 2015 and was the projected date for completion to I-85.

The purpose of the project was originally conceived by the Gaston Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (Gaston MPO)[3] to provide an east-west connection between I-85 west of Gastonia to I-485 in Mecklenburg County.[4] Gaston County commissioners approved the concept in 1991.[5] Funding is available to build the toll road to US 321, south of Gastonia beginning in 2010. Completion date is scheduled in 2030. Projections show 19,000 to 21,000 vehicles at the project's US 321 terminus in 2030.

Opposition to the road dates at least as far back as August 18, 1992.[5] Community opposition is forming against what some affected property owners have called "the toll road to nowhere."[6] They assert that the toll road will discharge 20,000 vehicles through the York-Chester neighborhood, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and that the project will not meet the purpose of providing the east-west connection that was originally conceived.

Community support has formed as a counter to a toll road opposition group who refers to the project as "the toll road to nowhere." The "Build The Garden Parkway" group claims that the Garden Parkway "...is the result of many years of hard work and planning by people who care about their community. It is a commitment to Gaston County's growth and development. It is our chance to make a lasting, positive impact on the future for us all, and it will not come again."[7] During the summer of 2009, at public meetings in the towns of Belmont, NC and Gastonia, NC, pro-parkway residents arrived to show their support with green signs and t-shirts featuring the slogan, "Build The Garden Parkway! Gaston County's Road To the Future". The Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce has also been vocal in their support of the Garden parkway project. Chamber president Elyse Cochran is on the record in stating, "we feel it is for the greater good of Gaston County as a whole, what this proposed project does is open up opportunities for this community to attract positive growth and development long term, adding to the tax coffers of our community."[6]

Originally scheduled to be completed in 2015, delays resulted in required environmental permits and funds from the North Carolina General Assembly, pushing the opening into 2016. In June 2012, the North Carolina General Assembly continued to fail to provide funds to the Garden Parkway after advisement from NCDOT that they expected lawsuits that would further delay the project.[8] On July 12, 2012, the NCDOT withdrew the Garden Parkway permit requests, officially stopping the project. The reason for the withdrawals was because of impending threat of legal battle with environmentalists; however, it is also believed it was withdrawn because it had a similar environmental study done like the Monroe Connector/Bypass, which was struck down by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. As a result, it is possible NCDOT may do another environmental study, creating further delays in its construction or cancel the project entirely.[9][10]

On August 28, 2012, the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation and Clean Air Carolina (environmental groups) sued in federal court to stop the proposed toll road, claiming the environmental reviews were flawed and hid the project's shortcomings. The goal was to have federal regulations that signed off on the Garden Parkway be tossed out, forcing NCDOT officials to either start a new environmental impact study (further delaying the project by years) or kill it.[11]

In May 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly rescinded approval of the project. In May 2016, NCDOT made the unusual effort of sending postcards to more than 50,000 residents located along the planned Garden Parkway route that the Garden Parkway was officially dead.[2]

In 2021, a new Catawba River bridge was proposed, called Catawba Crossings, which will be routed similarly to the Garden Parkway, but will be a boulevard grade with a 45-mile-per-hour (72 km/h) speed limit.[12]