Tuttle: Twin Arches is still a go

Randall Tuttle, chairman of the Creative Corridors executive committee, echoes the sentiments of Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines that cost saving can be identified to make the Twin Arches more affordable, and the project can be completed.

From an e-mail today:

Yes , the bid for the Twin Arches was more than we expected, but that has not dampened our enthusiasm for the project nor our belief that we (our community) need to do something special at the Salem Creek Connector (Research Parkway) intersection with Highway 52.

Tuttle goes on to say that the intersection will be a major entrance to downtown that will provide

through-travelers with a view/perspective on our City of Arts and Innovation, and we still believe the concepts of our CCC master plan can be achieved for just an incremental few percent (in terms of total budget). We are right now in the thought process of determining ways for the project and/or project concepts to be accomplished more affordably, but I am sure that one way or another, CCC will be raising monies in the near term to accomplish the project goals.

Previously.

Arches or no for new Salem Creek Connector?

This rendering presented by the Creative Corridors Coalition in October depicts the future Salem Creek Connector and US Highway 52 interchange in Winston-Salem with landscaping "betterments."

UPDATE: The board of directors for the Creative Corridors Coalition met today. Executive Director Russell DuBois said he has no comment on what was discussed.

ORIGINAL POST: A story in YES! Weekly this week reports that the estimated cost of the proposed Twin Arches, described as a "focal point" of the future Salem Creek Connector, in the low bid submitted by Blythe Construction came in higher than expected.

The estimated cost of the feature is $3.5 million. Mayor Allen Joines said today that the original estimate had been about $2 million. The federal government is kicking in 80 percent of the cost of what the NC Department of Transportation calls "betterments" — landscaping enhancements that make the roadway more aesthetically appealing and enticing to pedestrians. The city and the non-profit Creative Corridors Coalition will each pay 10 percent of the remainder.

But funding for the Twin Arches will have to come entirely from private donors, which requires project leaders to make the big ask to philanthropists and foundations in the city that face competing demands from food pantries, homeless shelters and after-school programs.    

The Creative Corridors Coalition has emphasized the arches as a signature part of the Salem Creek Connector project, only one roadway in the larger footprint that is the focus of a collaboration among the nonprofit, the city and the NC Department of Transportation.

Randall Tuttle, board chairman of the coalition, characterized the unveiling of the designs for the Twin Arches in an October guest editorial in the Winston-Salem Journal as "more than a milestone achievement for the organization," and "the first step in a community-wide, public/private partnership that will brand our city and create an inspiring new gateway.

"For pennies on the dollar," the editorial argued, "our city can create an iconic parkway and spectacular monument representing our City of Arts and Innovation."

Tuttle and many other members of the board could not be reached today for comment on the status of the project.

Joines, who as mayor serves as a non-voting member of the coalition board, expressed optimism about prospects for completion.

"I've heard there's some value engineering that could possibly be done to still do the arches," he said. 

Another rendering depicts the Salem Creek Connector and US Highway 52 interchange with landscaping "betterments" and the Twin Arches.

NC DOT awards contract for Salem Creek Connector

Rendering of the future Salem Creek Connector courtesy of Creative Corridors Coalition

The NC Department of Transportation has awarded a contract for $68.9 million to Charlotte-based Blythe Construction for the construction of Salem Creek Connector in Winston-Salem.

The project covers a section of planned roadway between Rams Drive, formerly Stadium Drive, and Martin Luther King Drive. The Salem Creek Connector is a significant component of the Creative Corridors initiative.

The award letter to Blythe Construction went out on Jan. 4.  

A new interchange between US Highway 52 and Salem Creek Parkway will provide a southern gateway to downtown Winston-Salem. Spokesperson Dara Demi said DOT wants to have Salem Creek Connector completed in advance of a planned temporary closing of a mile-long section of Business 40 between Church Street and Peters Creek Parkway for renovation.

Creative Corridors Coalition seeks input from east Winston residents

Creative Corridors Coalition coordinator Jennifer Kiger tells me the Winston-Salem initiative has struggled to obtain buy-in and engagement from residents of the eastern half of the city. The coalition is seeking public input on how to use a $200,000 federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to aesthetically enhance corridors — including bridges, streetscaping, sidewalks, embankments, medians, bike lanes — to restore a sense of connectivity to the city. A critical part of the project is bridging divides between east Winston-Salem and downtown, which is demarcated by US Highway 52.

A first public input meeting on Feb. 23 was well attended by representatives of the arts community and residents from the west side of the city, but not so much by east Winston-Salem residents. Southeast Ward Councilman James Taylor took a step towards rectifying that imbalance by presenting the initiative to constituents last night.

The coalition's second public input meeting next Tuesday will give east Winston-Salem residents an opportunity to weigh in. The meeting will be held at Mars Hill Baptist Church, located at 1331 E. 4th St. at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.