Hidden Valley wants more crosswalks and lights. CDOT has a plan. Is it enough?
Marjorie Parker stood still at the intersection of West Eastway Drive and North Tryon Street — a six lane roadway — while dozens of cars whizzed by, oblivious to her.
As the Hidden Valley Community Association president watched the traffic, a man clutching grocery bags crossed the intersection right where a crosswalk is needed. Farther down North Tryon Street, while there is a light for pedestrians, Parker says it’s not enough.
“The cars coming (and) the speed they were coming, they hit a guy who was blind,” Parker said. “He didn’t die, but he got hurt.”
As the neighborhood group makes requests to city officials for more crosswalks and stop lights at many of the community’s intersections, Hidden Valley ranks among the most dangerous areas within Charlotte for pedestrians and cyclists, a Charlotte Observer analysis found.
From 2018 through 2022, nine pedestrians and bicyclists were killed by vehicles in the Hidden Valley neighborhood, Charlotte Department of Transportation data show. Two more in the same time frame were hit and suffered serious injuries.
But changes are coming.
CDOT is building bike lanes, sidewalks and lighting on Sugar Creek Road to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists, city data show. The project is expected to be completed next year.
The city is also planning to extend the Cross Charlotte Trail through Hidden Valley by 2025. The trail is a partnership between the city and Mecklenburg County to connect Charlotte through trails and greenways.
Parker and the association say more needs to be done.
The group wants safe crossings at three intersections the northeast Charlotte neighborhood. They want to stop lights, too, at the intersections where Sugar Creek Road meets Hidden Valley and Cinderella roads.
Parker said it takes longer to make change in the neighborhood she loves and calls home, especially when she sees other areas get safer infrastructure first.
“We don’t have many restaurants in this area. If you compare this area to Prosperity Church Road, it’s like night and day,” Parker said. “There’s so much convenience. It’s such a walkable neighborhood.”
Prosperity Church Road is a neighborhood north of Hidden Valley next to University City.
How do you get a crosswalk in your neighborhood?
There are simple steps to take to get a new crosswalk or other pedestrian crossing infrastructure in your neighborhood.
The first step is to call 311 to make a request. Another way to make a request is to enter it in the CLT+ app, said Angela Berry, CDOT’s Vision Zero coordinator. Vision Zero is a city program with a goal of eliminating traffic fatalities by making Charlotte safer.
Those requests then go to an internal committee, chaired by Berry. The committee determines which requests are justified, then those projects go on Berry’s list for funding.
What’s funded is then prioritized by a set of criteria such as how dangerous the area is or cost of the project.
CDOT internally is working to include the Transportation Disadvantaged Index when prioritizing projects. The index is a North Carolina Department of Transportation tool showing the disproportionate impact of transportation barriers on communities of color to help inform policy decisions.
“We’re putting infrastructure where it’s most needed to benefit the most people,” Berry said. “Because let’s say they can’t own a car or they don’t want to own a car. That’s where we need to be putting our infrastructure.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
