Grand Palisades Parkway meets York Road at one intersection, and NC 49 carries you north from there toward I-485, the airport and Uptown. That stretch of road is in the middle of a repaving contract that runs through summer 2027. The Shopton Road bridge near the airport has a closure on almost the same calendar.
The repaving and the bridge closure are both scheduled to wrap up around summer 2027. Both are about keeping existing roads in good repair. Neither one adds the lanes that Steele Creek traffic has been waiting for. Those lanes are scheduled for 2029 and 2030, and the key intersection for Palisades drivers still has no final design.
The York Road contract is written around your commute
NCDOT awarded a $6 million contract to Blythe Brothers Asphalt Co. to mill and resurface four sections of NC 49. That covers about 7.8 miles in both directions between I-485 and the Buster Boyd Bridge near the South Carolina line. Crews could start as early as January 26, and the work is due to finish by summer 2027.
The rules in the contract matter more than the dates. According to NCDOT's announcement, the contract bans daytime lane closures on NC 49. It also bans closures during major holidays and during events at several venues in the city limits. Most of the work happens overnight, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
For most Palisades households, that means the 7:30 a.m. drive and the 5:30 p.m. return shouldn't hit a repaving lane closure. The drives that can are the late ones:
- A flight that lands at Charlotte Douglas after 9 p.m.
- A dinner out that runs late. For example, Dear Charlotte, the rooftop restaurant and event space planned for the top floor of the new Hilton Garden Inn Steele Creek at 4936 Trojan Drive, is targeted for late fall 2026, Axios Charlotte reported. The 124-room hotel itself opened August 19, according to Charlotte Vibes.
- An early start before 5 a.m., when overnight crews may still be working.
The holiday rule also shapes the next two months. With Thanksgiving and the December holidays coming, the contract's ban on closures during major holidays should leave York Road fully open on the days traffic is heaviest. The work schedule changes night to night, so DriveNC.gov is the place NCDOT sends drivers for real-time conditions.
The Shopton bridge closed early and stays closed through summer 2027
If you use Shopton Road to reach the airport side of Steele Creek, you have been on the detour for almost a year. NCDOT first planned to close the Shopton Road bridge over Coffey Creek in January 2026. Then its bridge maintenance staff had to make several repairs to the deck, and the agency closed the 50-year-old, two-lane bridge after the morning rush on December 2, 2025, for safety. WSOC reported the closure that day and said the road is scheduled to reopen by summer 2027.
The official detour is a loop. It runs from Shopton Road to Steele Creek Road/NC 160, then I-485, then South Tryon Street/NC 49, and back to Shopton Road. Part of that loop is the same NC 49 now being repaved. That's one reason the ban on daytime closures matters here too.
When the bridge reopens, it will be bigger than the old one. Under the $6.8 million contract with Blythe Development, the new bridge will be 135 feet long with three 11-foot lanes and sidewalks on both sides. The contract also calls for vegetation establishment to continue into early 2028. Expect some crew activity at the creek for months after traffic is back on the bridge.
The two Steele Creek fixes are meant to tide traffic over until the state widens the road
The City of Charlotte has been working on Steele Creek Road with two low-cost intersection projects. They aren't part of the state's widening. The City's project page describes them as interim congestion relief, designed on a small budget so they could be built sooner. It also says NCDOT will build on them around 2030.
| Location | What changes | Cost | Status per the City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steele Creek Rd at Shopton Rd West | An extra northbound through lane, plus a new left-turn lane at Riverdale Dr | $800,000 | Complete |
| Steele Creek Rd at Sam Neely Rd | A new right-turn lane | $770,000 | In progress; construction was expected to start in summer 2026 |
The City's last update came on May 29, 2026. It said design for the Sam Neely turn lane was finished, and that an on-call contractor would take several months to select and schedule. The page still lists the project in the bid phase. Summer has ended, so the City page is the place to check whether construction has begun. The two projects share a $1.57 million budget, funded by the South Charlotte Reinvestment Program and the Congestion Mitigation Program.
The lanes Steele Creek needs are on the books for 2029 and 2030
The state's long-term plan for NC 160 is in the CRTPO 2026–2035 Transportation Improvement Program, which the regional board adopted on October 15, 2025. It splits the widening into two pieces:
- U-5766B, NC 49 to I-485. 4.31 miles widened to multiple lanes. Right-of-way funding of $42.2 million is programmed in 2026, and construction of $137.4 million is scheduled for 2029. The total is about $241.5 million.
- U-5766A, South Carolina line to NC 49. 2.04 miles. Right-of-way funding of $10.7 million is programmed in 2026, and construction of $35.6 million is scheduled for 2030. The total is $72.9 million.
The southern piece moved forward this summer. The NCDOT Board of Transportation's August 2026 project list includes an agreement with the City of Charlotte on U-5766A. Under it, NCDOT prepares the plans, buys any needed right-of-way and builds the project, and the City relocates its own utilities. At the City's request, the contract will also include a left-turn directional crossover at NC 160 and Hunting Birds Lane, and the City will reimburse a fixed $178,000 for it.
Those construction years mean the 2027 projects are just the first round of work. After the bridge reopens and the repaving is done, the larger Steele Creek construction is still about two years away.
The intersection that matters most still has no final design
The NC 49 and NC 160 intersection is where York Road and Steele Creek Road meet. For Palisades drivers heading toward the outlets, I-485 or the Shopton corridor, it's the busiest decision point on the way. It's also the least settled piece of the plan.
NCDOT's project page for the Steele Creek Road improvements, last updated July 8, 2026, says the agency is studying intersection options there, including a continuous-flow intersection. It notes that designs are subject to change. The same page still shows an old tentative construction milestone of FY 2024. The adopted program's 2029 and 2030 construction years are the current schedule.
A continuous-flow design moves left-turning traffic across oncoming lanes before the main signal. It would work differently from the intersection you drive through today. Because it's still only an option under study, the project page and its design maps are where to follow it. That page also links the 2019 maps, including a dedicated sheet for the NC 49 and NC 160 intersection.
I-485 is the one piece already open
The 18-mile I-485 Express Lanes opened at 6 a.m. on February 28, 2026. NCDOT said at the time that contractors would keep doing final construction work at points along I-485 after opening, with intermittent lane closures. For a Palisades driver taking the Shopton detour, I-485 is one leg of the official loop.
Here's where things stand going into November 2026:
- Open or complete: I-485 Express Lanes, open since February with final work continuing; Steele Creek Road at Shopton Road West, listed as complete by the City.
- Underway, scheduled to end around summer 2027: NC 49 repaving from I-485 to the Buster Boyd Bridge; the Shopton Road bridge closure over Coffey Creek, with vegetation work continuing into early 2028.
- Expected but not yet confirmed as started: the Sam Neely Road right-turn lane.
- Scheduled for 2029 and 2030: the NC 160 widening in two segments.
- Still being studied: the design of the NC 49 and NC 160 intersection.
Dates like these can come up when you sell a home along the York Road corridor. If you're thinking about listing in The Palisades in the next year or two, Tanaya Ewell can walk you through how the 2027 work and the later Steele Creek widening may fit your timing, starting with a free home valuation.
