AN ACT to provide funds for upgrading orphan roads in mecklenburg county.

Whereas, Grand Palisades Parkway, located in the City of Charlotte, is a privately maintained road that was dedicated for public use in 2004, if not earlier; and

Whereas, the general public uses Grand Palisades Parkway on a daily basis; and

Whereas, the following schools have bus routes that travel by way of Grand Palisades Parkway:

Rea Farms STEAM Academy,

Charles Parker Elementary,

Palisades High School,

Collinswood Language Academy,

Gaston Day,

Hawthorne Academy High School,

Kennedy Middle School,

Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School,

Metro School,

Northwest School of the Arts,

Olympic High School,

Park Road Montessori Elementary School,

Palisades Elementary School,

Phillip O. Berry High School,

Randolph Middle School,

SAIL Academy,

South Mecklenburg High School,

Southwest Middle School,

UNCC Early College,

Winget Park Elementary School,

River Gate Elementary School; and

Whereas, Grand Palisades Parkway could be a Catawba Nuclear Station emergency evacuation route; and

Whereas, it is in the public interest for the Department of Transportation to accept Grand Palisades Parkway for maintenance; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of State Budget and Management the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year to provide a directed grant to Mecklenburg County for the repair and improvement of various orphan roads in non‑municipal areas of the County, which would allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to accept these roads for State maintenance.

SECTION 2.  Notwithstanding G.S. 136‑102.6, the Department of Transportation shall make all necessary improvements to Grand Palisades Parkway in accordance with the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation for acceptance of a subdivision street, after which the Department shall accept Grand Palisades Parkway to the State highway system for maintenance.

SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation the sum of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year to make the improvements required in Section 2 of this act.

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2025.