‘Denver is already overcrowded’: Hundreds of new homes approved in eastern Lincoln County
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to approve a subdivision in Denver with up to 267 single family homes, despite concerns from residents about traffic along a major roadway.
The 126-acre tract where the subdivision will be located sits north of Kenyon Drive’s end and south of Hagers Hollow Drive.
In the original proposal for Villages of Denver approved in 2001, Lincoln County commissioners signed off on plans for 685 lots, according to county documents. With commissioners’ approval of this proposal, 100 homes will be added to the original plan.
The project will allow the county to turn over maintenance of all roads within the neighborhood, which are currently private, to NCDOT, which would allow school buses to enter the subdivision.
School buses are required to travel on “state-maintained highways, municipal streets, or other streets with publicly dedicated right-of-way,” according to state law.
Traffic concerns
At a community involvement meeting in December 2021, some Denver residents expressed concerns about traffic that would come from the addition of hundred of homes, notably on the N.C. 16 Business corridor.
As part of the project, a traffic signal and northbound left-turn lane would be installed at the intersection of Hagers Hollow Drive and N.C. 16 Business to mitigate traffic, according to county documents.
“A traffic light is not enough to lessen the amount of traffic that 267 houses will add to Denver,” a resident said during the meeting. “Denver is already overcrowded.”
According to a traffic study conducted by the developer, the subdivision will generate 2,491 trips per day on nearby roads.
For comparison, the intersection at N.C. 16 Business and Fairfield Forest Road had an average annual daily traffic volume of 5,100 per day in 2021, and the highway’s intersection with Webbs Road had a volume of 9,000 vehicles per day, according to the most recent data from NCDOT. Both intersections were included in the traffic study.
Construction will not begin until the traffic signal at Hagers Hollow Drive and N.C. 16 Business is installed, according to county documents.
