Stallings man on mission to get dangerous intersection fixed

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — If thumbs-up were nickels, David Allison says he’d be rich.

Allison has made it his mission to get a dilapidated road and dangerous intersection in western Union County fixed.

“I just got tired of all the congestion, all of the accidents, all of the problems here,” Allison told Channel 9′s Genevieve Curtis.

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition to update the intersection at Potter Road and Pleasant Plains Road in Stallings.

VIDEO: Union County asks citizens for input to make intersections safer

Two years ago, the general assembly approved $1.6 million to make upgrades to the four-lane road.

But Allison says he started voicing his concerns nine years ago. Since 2014 he’s cataloged 109 accidents with 39 injuries.

Now, he’s tired of waiting for promised improvements to this area.

“There has been delay after delay … government red tape, but our safety is at risk,” Allison said.

NCDOT was scheduled to start taking bids on the project this month, but it hit yet another roadblock.

“They just discovered a gas line that nobody knew about,” Allison said.

Now, the city of Stallings and NCDOT say the bid process will start in December.

“Honestly, those timelines don’t have a lot of credibility,” Allison said. “It’s been nine years. Why do we think it’s going to happen in December?”

Allison says it would spur a lot of economic growth “if this grand plan were put into effect.”

“They spent tons of money on this design project, and it’s just been laying around,” he said.

Allison has no intention of letting off the gas on his campaign. He plans to be at the intersection with his sign that reads “FixPotterRd.com,” which is a website he created about the problems, until the area is fixed.

NCDOT tells Channel 9 that it’s in the process of relocating utility lines so that construction can begin. There are other scheduled improvements to Potter Road as well. Intersection improvements at Potter Road and Forrest Lawn will start in 2025. Construction of a roundabout at Potter Road and Wesley Chapel is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2024.

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