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.