And the recently-annexed Coddle Creek area in Kannapolis includes N.C. 73 from I-85 to Coddle Creek. So City Council voted 4-2 this week to take part in a study aimed at protecting that corridor for future widening to at least four lanes.

Council voted to pay $10,000 toward a $300,000 study, on the condition that the N.C. Department of Transportation pays $240,000 and other governments pay the rest.

The study of N.C. 73 from Concord to Lincolnton would determine appropriate land uses, how to tie them into transportation planning and how to protect right-of-way for future widening.

The Cabarrus Regional, Lincolnton-Lincoln County and Lake Norman chambers of commerce have endorsed the study of the developing corridor and are working to convince N.C. DOT of its value.

“DOT has bigger fish to fry than N.C. 73, which is why we have a strategy to induce DOT to look at N.C. 73,” said Alex Rankin, chairman of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce.

A big part of that strategy is to line up $60,000 in local matching dollars before asking the state for money.

Concord has agreed to pay $10,000, as have Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville in Mecklenburg County, said David Hales, Kannapolis city manager. The chamber intends to ask Cabarrus County to spend $10,000, as well.

Councilman Richard Anderson, who, along with Councilman Phil Meacham, voted against funding the study, said he’d be surprised if county commissioners agree to help pay for it. He said he doesn’t think Kannapolis residents ought to help pay for it, either.

“Why not use private funds to do this instead of tax dollars?” he asked. “Has the chamber contacted property owners out there?”

He pointed out that developer Robert Burkett has offered the county $50,000 for a study on the traffic impact of his mixed-use development on Odell School Road off N.C. 73. The 446-acre, 1,400 home development, which will include office and retail buildings, got county approval Monday.

Anderson also said he’d be surprised if the state agreed to the study, since N.C. 73 isn’t included in its transportation improvement plans.

“That tells me they’re not too concerned,” he said.

But Rankin said that for a study which could eventually require municipal and county rezonings along N.C. 73, the state wants local governments to take part before it will commit its money. And the city won’t turn over the check until the state does agree to the study.

Ken Geathers, Kannapolis mayor pro tem, said the Cabarrus-South Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization, which he chairs, sees N.C. 73 as a priority and endorses the study.

“N.C. 73 is going to be very important to us, not tomorrow, but in the future,” Geathers said. “If we locate an industrial park in the western part of the city, that’s going to be one of the pearls we have.”

Hales said he feels the study would be a good use of part of the $50,000 the city has budgeted in the coming year for “traffic calming” projects. Since the city annexed the Coddle Creek area, Kannapolis police spend a lot of time responding to wrecks on that road, he said.