More than 70 property owners along Aviation Parkway can get more information Thursday about how a road widening project could impact their land.
Construction is expected to begin on Aviation Parkway from Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville to Interstate 40 in Cary. The project will widen the 2.5-mile stretch to a four-lane, median-divided road with bicycle and pedestrian lanes.
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A sidewalk and a 10‑foot‑wide multi‑use trail are also part of the project.
NC Eminent Domain Law Firm will host a free public seminar on Wednesday, June 18, from 7-9 p.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton Raleigh Durham Airport in Morrisville to help property owners better understand the process.
According to the state Department of Transportation, traffic in that area is expected to increase by 50% within the next 25 years -- the equivalent of about 24,000 vehicles a day by 2050. The project aims to help with traffic flow and congestion.
Attorney Jason Campbell with the NC Eminent Domain Law Firm said businesses along Aviation Parkway will lose parking spaces to make room for the wider road.
"Those buildings are next to the roads, their parking lots are next to the roads, and this widening will cause them to lose parking," Campbell said. "It will cause them to lose the land in front of their buildings."
According to Campbell, that could directly impact people.
"How many people can use a building depends on how many parking spaces you have," he said. "[If] you lose parking spaces, you may have the same size building leftover, but you're going to have fewer people you can rent to [and] fewer people who can work there."