Residents want road safer after cars crash into yards

CHARLOTTE — Residents along The Plaza near High Lake Drive said they want the city to do something about the wrecks that happen on their properties.

Brenda Johnson said she loves her east Charlotte home, but she said wrecks that happen adjacent to her property have her ready to pack her bags.

“Terrible,” she said. “Beyond terrible. A wreck about every other week.”

Johnson recalled a wreck that happened on her front lawn.

“I was in the house,” she said. “I heard this big, loud noise. It sounded like my whole house was shaking.”

Neighbor Kristen Askey lives about 50 feet past a 35-mph speed limit sign.

“I don’t want somebody to pass away at my house, in my front yard,” Askey said. “I don’t ever want that to happen.”

Askey said she is convinced the driver who crashed onto her lawn a few months ago wasn’t following the rules of the road.

“The entire front end of that vehicle is completely smashed in, and I mean they hit one of the trees that’s in our front yard pretty badly,” she said.

The city of Charlotte identified the stretch of The Plaza east of Eastway Boulevard as a “high injury network.”

A signal engineer with the Charlotte Department of Transportation said “The observed traffic volumes, delays, and crash history do not warrant a signal at this time. The installation of a signal would likely increase the rear crashes on the Plaza and increase delays for all traffic.”

If neighbors or drivers want to request a traffic study, contact NCDOT at 704-983-4400 and ask to speak with someone in the Traffic Engineering Department.

VIDEO: West Charlotte residents fed up with dangerous driving; ask city for action

West Charlotte residents fed up with dangerous driving; ask city for action

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