Land Use Plan – 2002 - Stanly County, North Carolina

STANLY COUNTY
SECTION 4: INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS SERVING THE COUNTY
Introduction
Section 4 of the Phase I report provides a summary of infrastructure serving the county.
Infrastructure examined in this section—including transportation systems, utilities, and
community facilities—all take part in helping defining the future of the county since they so play
such an important role influence development patterns.
Transportation Analysis
Introduction
Roadways
A balanced transportation network should provide a safe and efficient means of travel for both
people and goods. In addition, transportation systems, particularly roadways, contribute
significantly to the patterns of development in any community, be it a city or town, county, or a
region. This section of the Stanly County Land Use Plan examines existing transportation
systems in Stanly County. Roadways, bikeways, rail lines, and public transportation will be
studied in this analysis.
Stanly County’s roadway system is typical of many other counties in central North Carolina. Most
major thoroughfares—NC 24/27, NC 73, NC 138, NC 740, and U.S. 52—link the county seat,
Albemarle, with outlying rural areas and the central North Carolina region in a radial roadway
pattern. This radial pattern is repeated to a lesser extent in other population centers of the
county such as Locust/Stanfield, Oakboro, Richfield, and New London.
The remainder of the county road system essentially feeds the major road network by following
the natural topography of the county.
Functional Classification System
According to the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO),
each roadway is specifically designed and used to serve a particular role—or functional
classification—within the overall roadway network for a community, county, or region. The North
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) uses the functional classifications identified in
Table 4-1.
In general terms, each roadway classification is based on two design factors:
1. Mobility, or the capacity of a roadway segment to move traffic efficiently; and
2. Accessibility, or the ability of a roadway to provide access to land adjacent to the
thoroughfare.
Each factor is inversely proportional to the other, that is, the capacity of an interstate highway to
accommodate mobility limits its ability to accommodate accessibility to individual properties—
homes, schools, businesses, industrial operations—along a roadway (AASHTO). By looking at
the local classification system an understanding can be gained of the current roadway network,
development patterns, and future opportunities for roadway expansion and development.
The functional classifications system for Stanly County is illustrated in Figure 4-1.
Land Use Plan 4-1 6/02