Road improvements expected with new Cornelius hospital
New Atrium Hospital rendering | Atrium
Feb. 16. By Dave Vieser. The construction of a new Atrium Hospital in Cornelius will not only enhance medical care here but also result in some road improvements—all at Atrium’s expense.
Major developers such as Atrium are required by the town to conduct a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) before the rezoning application can be reviewed and approved. In this instance, Atrium paid $94,250 for the study. Included in the analysis are a number of traffic improvements that the developer must complete at its expense before the hospital can open.
Some of these improvements will address congested intersections that already cause delays.
—Statesville Road at Westmoreland Road: A 475-foot eastbound left turn lane will be added on Westmoreland Road approaching Statesville Road, which will also require modification to the traffic signal. Currently, there is no dedicated eastbound turning lane resulting in significant congestion at that intersection.
—Statesville Road at Bailey Road: This will be a full movement access point into the new hospital, and additional turning lanes will be added to Bailey Road. These additions will require modification of the current traffic signal.
—Statesville Road at Bailey Road extension: This will be another access point into the new hospital, which will require north and southbound turning lanes to be added to Statesville Road.
What about Exit 27?
There have been discussions in recent years about adding an Exit 27 to I77 at Westmoreland Road. However, at the moment, there are no NCDOT plans for a new exit so the TIA did not include any recommendations on this issue.
Reviews and hearings
The town Transportation Advisory Board will review this report at its Feb. 22 meeting, and the Town Board will conduct a public hearing on the entire rezoning application 6 pm Monday, March 7.
No Comments
Leave A Comment
Our Partners
More noise, more crime (hospital areas have high crime), more trees cut down. And building right on top of residential neighborhoods.
This town cares nothing about its residents. It is a disgrace.
There are no neighborhoods on the west side of Statesville between EXIT 28 and EXIT 25. This is a perfect area for a hospital truth be told. Novant at exit 23 is a relatively low Crime area west of I-77, so hospital areas don’t always lead to crime.
BIGGEST issue is road improvements. As long as that is done, it’s still progress and nothing we can do to stop it.
I’m 58, and in all my years of going to hospitals and medical facilities I’ve NEVER encountered any of this “high crime” mentioned in this alarmist person’s opinion. You’re one of these types thats just waiting to be offended and angry at anything not fitting into your view of the world. Change…is what your fear. Sorry babe, change is gonna come, with or without you.
Is it really necessary to have a hospital with 4 other hospitals within 6 miles? I don’t think it is. You can go to the meetings and voice your opinion. People rarely do and that’s why this stuff passes.
Sorry you feel that way Ded. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I think you are way off base.
I do not work for Atrium, but have worked in healthcare partnering with both major hospital systems in this area for almost 15 years and this new hospital is more than needed. I receive a daily census from all of the Charlotte/Hickory hospitals and most are at 95% occupancy or above on any given day, thus the long wait times in our ED’s as these people are waiting for an available bed. We are blessed to have the providers we do in this area and have true patient choice. Hoping you never have to, but you will be thankful if you or a loved one ever needs to utilize their services by having this addition to our community.