We'll Cross That Bridge When We Get To It: The Wadesboro Bypass

There are two schools of thought about how a bypass would impact Wadesboro. The Pessimists suggest that rerouting beach traffic from the current 74 "strip" would devastate the local economy, driving virtually all of the convenience stores and fast food restaurants to relocate or go out of business entirely. The Optimists on the other hand, believe that drawing some of these businesses out away from the Uptown would allow smaller, locally-operated businesses to flourish in a more traditional main street atmosphere. The reality is likely somewhere in-between.

The long-rumored bypass around Wadesboro has gained support in Raleigh over the past few years as the state has invested in upgrades at the Port of Wilmington. A key part of the port strategy is improving the road connectivity between Charlotte and Wilmington, aka US 74. Bypasses around Rockingham and other small towns have cut the travel time from Charlotte to the port from 4+ hours to 3 1/2, and the Monroe Expressway will take another 15-20 minutes off that. Wadesboro is one of the two remaining "bottlenecks" preventing a 3-hour "city-to-port" trip. In the short-term, a median project on the east side of town is expected to shave a few minutes from the drive, but bypassing the town altogether is clearly the long-term option. 

So, what would a Wadesboro bypass look like. The current plan, which is really nothing more than an engineer's scribble on a map, routes traffic from a point beginning just west of Walmart, runs north of town near the airport, and rejoins the current 74 configuration east of the future Agri-Civic Center. There would probably be just one exit, at the intersection of US 52. It would be a four-lane road and could be either free or tolled. Counter-intuitively, some studies indicate that a toll road would be better for the businesses along the existing highway, because vehicles that are willing to pay the toll are trying to get from one place to another as quickly as possible and likely would not have stopped anyway, while those with more time will take the "business" route to avoid the toll. I'm not advocating that particular philosophy, but at face value, it seems to have merit. 

There is no question that a bypass, free or toll, would have a significant impact on businesses along the existing 74 retail corridor. The impact would be particularly profound for businesses that are heavily reliant on through traffic; Peaches & Cream comes to mind. Some of the chain restaurants and gas stations would probably either relocate or open new units at the US 52 exit, potentially leaving empty buildings along the existing corridor which would be very difficult to re-purpose.

On the other hand, I have long felt that a significant issue with the development of our Uptown is the proximity of US 74 to our traditional retail district. Other towns our size -- and smaller -- have delis and coffee shops and multiple specialty retail shops in their downtowns. Here, it would be very difficult for a new deli on Wade or Greene streets to compete with Wendy's and Arby's, just a block over. Moving some of those chain operations out close to the airport would give Uptown businesses some breathing room and would, in my estimation, promote local entrepreneurship.

But, and this is REALLY THE KEY POINT; this is a discussion of what MIGHT happen TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW. With all the talk about "accelerated time schedules" and "priority treatment," the reality is the very earliest a Wadesboro bypass could open would be 2030, and 2035 to 2040 is a more likely scenario. That engineer's scribble I mentioned earlier is just that, a pencil line drawn on a map. No real engineering work has been done. No one knows what critical topographical and environmental challenges are present. No one knows the cost, and most importantly, no funding has been allocated to build such a road. 

The interesting thing about planning for the potential economic impact of a future road is that, based on the rate of technological change in the transportation and retail industries, there is a good chance many of the issues being raised today will be moot by then. Will traditional storefronts still be around or will the majority of our shopping be internet-based? Will fast food restaurants be highly-automated multi-lane drive-thrus where food is ordered in advance from a mobile app? Will self-driving cars and trucks alleviate the need for new roads? Will roads even look like they do today or will they be engineered specifically for autonomous vehicles? Will gas stations still be a thing, or will most vehicles be recharged instead?           

Certainly, it is appropriate to have discussions around a Wadesboro bypass and to plan, generally, for the future; but let's hold off on the hand-wringing and lamentations about economic impacts until we are in a better position to make those calls. Or as my mother used to say, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."