Megan Pillow | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | Dec. 19, 2007

Mayors from Mooresville, Cornelius, Huntersville and Davidson met in Huntersville Friday morning to announce the formation of a joint task force which will tackle the region’s traffic challenges.

In the middle of the rush hour commute at a park-and-ride site, Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain said the region’s “unprecedented growth” has spurred the four town’s officials to find a way to cope with the increasing demands on the region’s transportation and infrastructure.

“We need to move, and we need to move now,” Swain said.

The task force will be chaired by former Davidson Mayor Randy Kincaid and vice chaired by former Cornelius Mayor Gary Knox.

The four current mayors will act as an advisory board which will consist of one elected official and one citizen from each of the four towns.

The task force will hold meetings each Wednesday through March, beginning Jan. 2, to discuss issues such as air quality, the widening of I-77, land use plans, connectivity, and commuter rail, Swain said. All meetings will take place at Cornelius Town Hall from 5-7 p.m. and will be open to the public.

Mooresville Mayor Bill Thunberg said the idea for the task force came about just a few weeks ago when newly elected Davidson Mayor John Woods called the other town mayors and said something had to be done about the transportation problems in the region.

“There was uniform agreement,” said Thunberg. The task force, he said, plans to have an “actionable report” by early April.
“This is not intended to be another report to sit on another desk somewhere,” he said.  “We take (our citizens’) concerns very seriously.”

Woods said the task force will outline a list of the region’s transportation priorities, including some short-term solutions to more pressing problems that can be implemented quickly.

Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte said the task force also plans to seek the input and expertise of the public on transportation issues. “There’s too much knowledge and talent in this community not to,” he said.

Thunberg said staff members of each of the four towns will also be “critical resources.”

Swain said one of the most important elements of the task force’s success will be cooperation between the four very different towns.

“We are all aware that we have different needs and different opinions,” she said.

Added Thunberg, “But we’re connected in many ways. We believe that working together, we can accomplish just about anything.”

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