Mint Hill highway too dangerous, residents say

MINT HILL, N.C. — A narrow Mint Hill highway lined with neighborhoods seems more like a major interstate to some.

Residents told Channel 9 that speeding semitrucks and sharp curves on Highway 218 have created a nightmare between Rock Hill Church Road in Union County and Allen Black Road in Mint Hill.

The two-lane road has a small shoulder and the speed limit in most places is 55 mph.

Mint Hill leaders have asked the North Carolina Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit two times over the past 14 years but NCDOT denied the request.  It said the speed is appropriate for the road. Some residents disagree.

"It's hard to pull out of the neighborhood,” David Sims said.

“There have been several accidents and a gentleman was killed,” resident Barbara Caraway said.

Data shows that crashes increased on the road by more than 300 percent between 2013 and 2015. There were five crashes in 2013 and 22 in 2015. In 2017, the numbers lowered a bit to 14.

NCDOT officials said it’s up to local police to enforce speeding.

The chief of police said his officers patrol as much as they can, but he said the speed limit is too high and needs to be changed.

NCDOT said it plans to come back again to study whether that speed limit needs to be lowered again.

Cox Media Group