Cars block Lake Norman intersection so police started handing out citations to fix it
Drivers frustrated by other cars clogging a Lake Norman-area intersection are complaining to police, and officers say they’ve responded by issuing dozens of citations and warnings.
Since Nov. 1, at least 113 drivers have been cited or warned for blocking the notorious N.C. 150 intersection at Williamson and Bluefield roads, Mooresville Police Sgt. Jeremy Dingler told The Charlotte Observer on Thursday.
Dingler says he gets an average of one call a day from a driver alerting him about other cars blocking the intersection.
“It’s an everyday thing,” he said.
The intersection is a hot topic on the social media website NextDoor, where some residents thanked police for responding to the problem. There are conversation, too, about whether impatient drivers pressure others to pull into the intersection when it’s already clogged and if rampant development contributes to the issue.
A major shopping center anchored by a SuperTarget also is perched between N.C. 150 and Bluefield Road.
Police pinpoint the problem
Much of the frustration Dingler hears comes from northbound Williamson Road drivers trying to get across N.C. 150 onto Bluefield Road.
They’re frustrated by cars turning left from southbound Bluefield Road onto N.C. 150 eastbound who get stuck in the middle of the intersection with a long line of bumper-to-bumper vehicles ahead of them, he said.
Police determined southbound Bluefield Road drivers who block the intersection are the biggest issue, Dingler said.
Compounding the mess: Traffic lights aren’t synchronized along N.C. 150 west from Interstate 77 Exit 36, he said.
Points off your license
Blocking an intersection is an infraction under N.C. Gen. Statute 20-142.5, punishable by two points on your driver’s license and $216 in court costs and a fine, Dingler said.
The statute, titled “Stop when traffic obstructed,” says: “No driver shall enter an intersection or a marked crosswalk or drive onto any railroad grade crossing unless there is sufficient space on the other side ... notwithstanding the indication of any traffic control signal to proceed.”
Responding to calls from other drivers, police issued 67 citations and 46 written and verbal warnings from Nov. 1 through Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the intersection, Dingler said.
State rejects police recommendation
In 2017, Mooresville Police suggested a way to relieve congestion at the Bluefield Road-Williamson Road intersection to the Shelby District Engineer’s Office of the N.C. Department of Transportation, Dingler said.
N.C. 150 and Williamson and Bluefield roads are state routes.
The suggestion: When the light turns red for N.C. 150 drivers, let northbound Williamson Road drivers proceed first through the intersection onto Bluefield Road instead of Bluefield Road drivers getting a left-turn arrow first, Dingler said.
That wouldn’t cure the problem but would help, he said.
NCDOT officials rejected the idea without explanation, Dingler and town officials told the Observer.
Because of ongoing complaints, Dingler said he’s tried reaching someone at the Shelby NCDOT office to renew the appeal, but no one calls back.
A spokesman for the NCDOT district that includes the Shelby office didn’t respond to an email from the Observer.
Dingler said he encourages drivers who complain to him about the intersection to call NCDOT at 980-552-4200, which is the number for the Shelby office.
The latest on N.C. 150’s widening
Traffic snarls could vanish after N.C. 150’s eventual widening, state and local officials say.
The $269.47 million project experienced decades of funding and other issues, but the money is now in place on the 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Program, officials said. The widening will extend from U.S. 21 east of Exit 36 to N.C. 16 Bypass in Catawba County.
Right-of-way acquisition has begun on the Mooresville end of the project, with construction scheduled to start in 2025, according to NCDOT.
Construction of the Catawba County end is scheduled to begin in 2029.
The state hasn’t released a projected end date for construction.
Senator: N.C. 150 delays “unacceptable”
Some N.C. 150 improvements will start in 2023, before the larger project, State Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a Republican whose district includes Iredell County, said in October.
The improvements include widening N.C. 150 eastbound near Morrison Plantation Parkway and expanding the intersection farther west at Doolie and Perth roads. Lake Norman High School is located on Doolie Road, and school traffic worsens bottlenecks there, residents complain.
On Facebook in 2021, Sawyer called the years of delays in widening N.C. 150 “unacceptable.”
“I’m putting pressure on the Governor and the Department of Transportation to complete this project,” she wrote. “I’m also working daily to get the department’s budget in check to ensure these delays don’t keep happening.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 6:00 AM.