West Charlotte residents are angry and anxious over a plan that could bulldoze their homes and parks for new toll lanes on Interstate 77 south. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has paused the project for three months to get more feedback, at a time when some residents remain skeptical whether their voices will be heard.
A wooded strip separates Corey Wilmore’s home from I-77. On a recent afternoon, cars whizzed past just beyond the trees. Wilmore pointed out a few new changes in the neighborhood — and more that could be coming.
“These people just built that. They built that big, crazy house,” Wilmore said. "And they're talking about taking some of these streets off. Taking the whole street out.”
Wilmore grew up in the Wilmore neighborhood and feels a bond to it. They share a name, after all. But he says a lot has changed since his youth.
“There was no walking dogs,” Wilmore said. "There was none of that. It was the hood.”
Nowadays, Wilmore says the neighborhood is wealthier, and in some areas, whiter. Wilmore lives with his mother in a two-story home, surrounded by older houses and some new mansions. But almost every house on their street, including theirs, plus the neighborhood park, could be demolished for the new toll lanes.
It's something Wilmore says his mother, who just retired, disapproves of.
“She’s not happy about it. But she’s preparing for it in the best way she can,” Wilmore said. "Whether she should sell or hold out, or whatever the case is. Me personally, I say hold out till the last minute.”
Other neighbors like Jack Williams are also concerned. Williams has been trying to raise awareness about the state’s plan with people like Wilmore. Williams has been knocking on doors, like Wilmore's, to inform people about the plan.
Williams lives around the corner. He’s worried even though his home is not in the line of fire.
“I think if this is going to be the major highway expansion that this region will see in the next 50 years, we should do this right,” Williams said. "We should do it thoughtfully with public engagement, ideas, and counter ideas.”
Plans to expand I-77 have been brewing since 2014. But it was only late last year when residents learned their homes could be at risk.
Some city and state leaders say the plan is too far along to stop, but the NCDOT has agreed to pause the plan for three months to gather more community input. A few miles north of Wilmore, Shauna Bell led a small group of people through the historically Black McCrorey Heights neighborhood.
“You’re at the ramp coming 77 South to Brookshire. So, the ramp goes right in front of my house,” Bell said. "And this is (interstate) 16, and so, people love racing on this at all times at night.”
Bell says the state has failed to communicate clearly with residents. She says at a neighborhood meeting in October, neighbors asked if homes would be bulldozed, and state officials said no. After the meeting, Bell says residents saw a plan that showed otherwise.
“You know what the maps say, so to sit there and not let people know that their homes are going to be taken and to let somebody find out from looking at maps or either going to a community engagement meeting and seeing maps blown up, and an interstate coming through your home is just disrespectful,” Bell said.
State officials say that was just one option. Their preference is to preserve homes in McCrorey Heights by building elevated toll lanes. But that plan could still remove sections of Frazier Park.
Bell says the plans are resurfacing negative memories.
“People are not happy. You had people at that meeting in October talking about how it felt like the 1960s again,” Bell said. "Because you had residents who were kids when it happened and are adults now, and remember. So, it was just like it felt like it was repeating itself. Nobody wants that.”
Bell is African American. In the 1960s, Charlotte demolished parts of historically Black neighborhoods for the construction of the original I-77 highway, a painful scar for many residents. While Bell agrees something needs to be done about the traffic-choked interstate, she says the burden shouldn’t be on communities like McCrorey Heights.
“So if this was coming through South Park, or this was going through Freedom Park, there would be all types of uproar, because nobody wants that going through there. And so somehow it's OK for us to be the ones to have to sacrifice for the growth of Charlotte.”
In a statement to WFAE, the NCDOT said the project team is still working through the designs in the Wilmore neighborhood. They've opened a community engagement center inside the project corridor to hear from residents.
Back on Spruce Street, city council member Joi Mayo sits on a bench at Wilmore Neighborhood Park, which could also be destroyed. The highway is just a few steps away.
“Yeah, I can definitely hear that noise. It’s pretty loud,” Mayo said. "Which would make you think if the highway is extended, how do you help with that sound barrier for residents and their quality of life.”
Mayo was elected last year to represent the neighborhood. She says she's not a fan of the current plan.
“If this project moves forward, how do we minimize impact to communities?” Mayo said. “How do we ensure that there are benefits to the community as well. But I think it's a lot to think through. It was a difficult time to come on the council.”
Mayo says she’s pushing the DOT to improve communication and be more responsive to residents.
“One of the big things I’ve continued to talk to them about is that they’re so slow,” Mayo said. "It takes them forever to get anything done. That’s a problem. People are concerned, people are fearful.”
Chandler Wrenn is one of those people. Wrenn lives a few doors down, across from the park, with his wife, kids, and two dogs.
“It’s definitely a bummer for sure,” Wrenn said. "Kind of don’t know really what to do.”
Standing in his front yard of the home where he’s lived for 11 years, he says people in the community are after a specific thing from the city and the NCDOT.
“For the taxpayers and homeowners, it’s more communication directly with us,” Wrenn said. "Because we will see news articles and all kind of things, but we don’t really know what to expect.”
Wrenn has worked with the government and as an urban planner.
“Our goal is to kind of stay put and see how things play out, pans out,” Wrenn said. "If there’s anything I learned working with the government is that things can change. And also, it doesn’t happen fast.”
The DOT says it will wrap up its public input process in June. For now, cars continue to zoom down I-77, just beyond the trees, while residents like Wrenn are left waiting and wondering if their homes will remain standing.
