Traffic pattern changes for busy street in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood

CHARLOTTE — Rush hour traffic patterns have changed for a major street in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood.

The middle lane of Seventh Street, between Laurel and Charlottetowne avenues, is now a left turn lane only. That forces drivers into a single lane of traffic in both directions. It brings an end to the traffic pattern that let drivers use the middle lane during rush hour traffic.

For the next three months, the lane changes will impact the morning and evening weekday rush. The goal is to find a solution to traffic troubles in the area.

Elizabeth continues to grow, attracting people and businesses. Matt Postle says he bikes to work every day.

“I use this, I come down Seventh where these signs are,” he said.

Now, there are big traffic changes impacting commuters just like Postle. Starting Thursday, Charlotte’s transportation department says it’s no longer using the signals above the middle lane of East Seventh street for several blocks. It’s a change some drivers like Thomas Honeyman are still getting used to.

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“Coming down the street, I wasn’t sure how quickly I was going to need to swap out of the lane,” Honeyman said.

Here’s what the changes mean for you. If you drive along East Seventh Street, there’s now only one lane in each direction. And you can only use the middle lane if you’re trying to turn at an intersection. Before, drivers could use the middle lanes to travel during rush hour, depending on the sign.

Some people said the signal would even display both the “stop” and “go” icons at the same time.

“You kind of have to make a snap decision, which is not the best if you’re a distracted driver,” Honeyman said.

While the city pauses these signals for now, officials will evaluate the traffic flow and the equipment for the next 90 days before making any recommendations. Honeyman hopes there’s a safer solution.

“If they’re not helping then we should get rid of them,” he said.

Channel 9 has reached out to city officials to figure out what happens after this 90-day change. They would only say that the city plans to collect data during that time, and they are doing this because of complaints conflicting information that was being displayed on the dynamic signs.

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