In the 1970s, N.C. 16 fractured west Charlotte, cutting the neighborhood off from Johnson C. Smith University and points east. The highway overlooks Van Buren Street in the McCrorey Heights neighborhood and is clearly visible from the road.
Since its construction, residents have petitioned the N.C. Department of Transportation to build a sound barrier or plant trees to obscure the view of the highway. Communication between the state and locals has been fraught; state contractors cut down trees along Van Buren in December 2024 without alerting neighbors, leaving logs, limbs and other debris behind.
“They keep trying to do these things without ever telling us,” Langley said. “We have eyes and ears on every street. So, if a resident sees crews bringing a dump truck down Van Buren, the first thing they do is they call me.”
Last June, WFAE contacted NCDOT about the tree plantings, debris and fence. A maintenance engineer with the department met with Langley to discuss tree plantings last summer and saw the debris and fence firsthand. The department didn’t replace the fence or remove the debris until Langley followed up nearly a year later.
NCDOT declined an interview with WFAE, but provided a written statement that a community member from McCrorey Heights contacted the department in early May about the fence and debris. DOT hired a contractor to replace the fence, and debris removal crews started Monday, May 18.
“Crews are actively cleaning debris and yard waste along Van Buren, taking care not to disturb established vegetation,” a representative from NCDOT wrote last Wednesday. “Litter crews are also working to remove all trash on the backslope of Brookshire.”
However, this is not the first time NCDOT has heard or seen the problem.
The department also met with the neighborhood a couple times last year. During a community meeting, a representative from NCDOT said that “it was mutually decided that impacts from installing larger evergreen trees like magnolias would be more of a disturbance to existing vegetation than a benefit, since heavy equipment would be needed.”
Langley disagreed and insisted that the department make the community whole:
“If you can't do that, then plant it by hand. Get some shovels, get a crew of 25 people and you guys dig until you can plant a tree,” Langley said.
The department’s tepid response to residents’ concerns
The defunct fence is not the only response that left residents skeptical of the department. In that same May correspondence to NCDOT, Langley requested that the state redirect stormwater pipes that regularly flooded Andrill Terrace. Water that collected on N.C. 16 regularly discharged on and around the sidewalk, making it dangerous to navigate.
“My kids ride their bikes everywhere, so when they get to that area, they hop off their bikes and just get onto the street,” Langley said.
Langley said he would like to see the stormwater redirected into the nearby Irwin Creek.
The department also said it addressed the leaky pipes on Andrill Terrace, where stormwater from N.C. 16 flooded the sidewalk. The road runs under the highway, connecting the neighborhood to Johnson C. Smith University.
As of last Thursday evening, Langley said the water still poured through the pipes. A video taken by Langley confirms that NCDOT has not redirected the water away from Andrill Terrace. The department had plugged the two pipes directly over the sidewalk and left the two that discharge onto the highway’s sloping abutment. The sidewalk still floods.
Langley said that this experience has further colored his perception of the state agency.
“It just kind of continues to erode public trust that they're actually going to do the right thing,” Langley said.
Langley said he is not confident that the department will consider the neighborhood’s interests in other, larger projects, such as the now-dead I-77 toll lane expansion.
