Mount Holly residents: Get trucks off our road
Mount Holly residents don’t want heavy 18 wheelers tearing up their roads anymore.
More than 50 people who live in the northern section of Mount Holly near North Main Street plan to go before City Council soon and ask elected officials to tackle the problem, said Scott Lilly. Lilly lives near the Mount Holly Fire and Rescue Department.
He and his neighbors say the issue is largely concentrated on N.C. 273, which serves as Main Street in Mount Holly for 4.5 miles.
“Everybody driving that road understands it is in poor condition,” he said. “It’s torn up.”
The state-maintained road is scheduled to be repaved next year, although officials have not said how much that will cost. Those repairs won’t last because of the truck traffic, Lilly said.
He and other residents want the city to designate a specific truck route — that diverts traffic from North Main — to cut down on the truck traffic.
One major issue is Daimler Trucks North America, a Freightliner truck manufacturing plant off North Main Street. Lilly says those trucks don’t cause a lot of damage because they’re not as heavy as most others.
Still, they don’t need to travel through the entire town to get to the plant. Truck drivers can use N.C. 16 instead of traveling the stretch of N.C. 273 through Mount Holly, he said.
Since the city can only recommend, not require a truck route, Lilly also wants to see the city put pressure on state leaders to make permanent and enforceable changes.
According to Jordan-Ashley Walker, an N.C. Department of Transportation spokeswoman, N.C. 273 has been deemed a reasonable access route for heavy trucks.
To change that, the state would have to prove what is called a “safety and capacity deficiency.”
Lilly is hoping to give the issue some heat with free hot dogs. He’s planning a cookout days before the council meeting to gather the residents who are also upset.
He hopes they take the time at the cookout to talk about what to present to council at their meeting on Aug. 10.
You can reach reporter Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or Twitter.com/lbaheri.
What: Hot dog cookout
When: 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 8
Where: Tuckaseegee Park, 165 Broome St., Mount Holly
Why: To discuss plans for requesting city leaders
Want to go?
