Stimulus funds to go to road at track

Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2009

The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to spend $3.5 million in federal stimulus dollars for road work by Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord.

The project is part of $75 million in road improvements Bruton Smith asked for two years ago in return for keeping his racetrack in Concord. The city of Concord and Cabarrus County agreed that Smith would pay for the work and be reimbursed years later.

Morehead Road, which runs along the south side of the track, would be widened and moved away from the speedway. The 3/4-mile project isn't needed to handle day-to-day traffic, but realigning the road will allow the speedway to place vendors adjacent to the track during race weekends. Pedestrians won't have to cross the road as often, making the area safer.

The project doesn't appear on a prioritized list of 27 transportation projects in Cabarrus County. The Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization's list has a number of expensive projects, such as widening I-85, which would cost too much for the stimulus. But the list had a number of less expensive road improvements that might have been candidates for stimulus money, such as improving intersections and widening smaller roads.

Last month the city of Concord requested stimulus money for the road. The DOT, which ultimately decides on stimulus, said the Cabarrus-Rowan planning organization then endorsed the project.

“The speedway didn't necessarily ask for this,” said N.C. DOT division engineer Barry Moose, who oversees state road projects in Cabarrus and much of the Charlotte area. “Since it was Cabarrus and Rowan's No. 1 project, I felt like it was OK to fund it.”

Moose said he had done preliminary design work on the Morehead realignment before Smith and Cabarrus officials began negotiating over the future of the speedway.

In distributing the $70 million stimulus for his region, Moose said he wanted to ensure Cabarrus received a fair amount. The county's only other stimulus project is a $3 million resurfacing of Interstate 85 from N.C. 73 to US 601/29.

The state's first list of stimulus-eligible products didn't include Morehead Road. Other Cabarrus projects on the list were $4 million to resurface U.S. 73 and to add shoulders and $7 million to resurface U.S. 24/27.

The total cost of moving Morehead Road is about $8 million. Moose said he's counting on local governments to come up with the rest.

Concord Mayor Scott Padgett said the Morehead Road project will create 50 jobs and give the county “the most bang for its buck.”

“It's the only new construction we're getting,” Padgett said. “I think that's important to note.”

In late 2007, Smith threatened to move his speedway unless the city of Concord allowed him to build a nearby drag strip off Bruton Smith Boulevard.

After a public feud, Smith and the city and county struck a deal to keep the track in Concord. As part of the deal, Smith would front the cost of $75 million in road improvements. That included moving Morehead Road, extending George Liles Parkway from Weddington Road to U.S. 29, and widening Bruton Smith Boulevard.

The parties are now negotiating over how long they have to repay Smith. Smith had asked for the money back in three to five years, instead of several decades.

Joe Wilson, Concord's transportation director, said the Morehead Road relocation wasn't on a priority list because it's a relatively new project. It also qualified for stimulus funding because it could be built quickly, and he said building the new road would create more jobs than repaving existing highways.

He said Smith didn't lobby Concord to move the road.

Smith said he didn't lobby Cabarrus or Concord officials for the stimulus money. He said he's owed $3 million from the city for infrastructure improvements he made for his drag strip.

“What we're pushing on is the monies we spent nine months ago,” Smith said. “They haven't paid us. We are trying to be good citizens and not file any lawsuits.”

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