‘Asphalt never smelled so good.’ Dilworth road reopens as construction winds down
Crews reopened Morehead Street on Thursday after a project hurt commute times and effectively cut off Dilworth businesses near the busy McDowell Street intersection for nearly a year and a half.
While the $41 million storm drainage project’s second phase will not be complete until “early 2023,” all lanes and crosswalks are open at the intersection, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services. Traffic cones will line the lanes until a concrete median is replaced.
Commuters and residents caught a reprieve from dynamite shockwaves and persistent drilling when the project’s first phase was completed in July 2016, but lane closures and familiar clangs returned in November 2021. Planners originally estimated construction would be complete about a year later, but disruptions continued into the new year.
“We recognize construction is disruptive and appreciate the public’s patience as we made improvements to benefit our community,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services communications manager Alyssa Dodd wrote in an email.
For Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, business instantly picked up once the barricades fell down.
“I don’t know if it was a fluke,” owner Matt Wohlfarth said, “but we were busy as hell.” In-person customers increased at least at least 30% since Thursday, he said.
Wohlfarth said the stormwater drainage work was definitely needed. The area, including his half-underground restaurant, used to flood. But the construction hurt business, he said. While regulars filled the restaurant for the last year, rows of construction materials kept signs covered and new faces away.
“They could barely see us,” he said.
So Wohlfarth took to quippy marquees, which he used to express his frustrations with the city throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and to comment on the construction overtaking his business.
“Free party for road crew if finished by 9/1/22,” one read.
“Tell the city McDowell St. should not be a storage lot,” read another.
While East Morehead Street needed to be closed to install the underground pipes, Wohlfarth said, crews also closed the intersecting McDowell Street to make room for equipment, cutting off access to the parking deck — for which Wohlfarth paid $1,500 a month.
The area has seen ongoing construction and economic growth for years and continues to see heavy equipment and intermittent lane closures as Atrium Health, Wake Forest School of Medicine and various apartment complexes populate the outskirts of uptown Charlotte along Morehead Street.
For now, Wohlfarth said he is glad to at least have some sense of normalcy back on Morehead Street.
“Asphalt never smelled so good,” his newest marquee reads.
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 1:53 PM.
