9 Investigates: Local town rattled by trucks; residents push for change

MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. — A 1-mile stretch of Highway 273 known as North Main Street in Mount Holly is lined with homes. It’s a peaceful neighborhood where many people are raising their families.

Many of those residents will tell you there’s just one problem, and that’s the consistent traffic of large trucks.

“Trucks will go by and it will shake the flat-screen television on the wall,” said Shane Acker, whose home sits along North Main Street. “When these things (trucks) hit the pot holes while coming through here, everything in the living room just vibrates.”

Acker and other residents said 18-wheelers and other large trucks are literally rattling parts of the town and tearing up North Main Street. Worse, they said the trucks often pass through when children are going to or from school.

“It’s a huge danger,” Acker said. “It’s actually given us reason to think about moving.”

For years, residents have been pushing for a weight restriction on North Main Street. A resident named Scott Lilly even went as far as wearing a sign advertising a petition. The petition called for officials to fix the road and then keep large trucks off of it. It was signed by more than 100 residents. Lilly took their case to Mount Holly City Council.

Throughout this time crews have been quick to patch the damaged road, but no new restrictions have been put on the trucks passing through the town.

“The state of North Carolina should use the money they got to build a bypass around here (Mount Holly) and get the trucks out of here,” said Wayne Nichols, during an earlier interview.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol is making sure trucks with violations aren’t using North Main Street as a way to bypass the weigh station on Interstate 85 in Mecklenburg County. For two days Channel 9 rode with troopers as they patrolled highways 273, 27 and 74.

“If they know we’re working this area then trucks with known violations won’t try to come through here (Mount Holly),” said Trooper Randy Lankford, with NC HWY’s Motor Carrier unit. “But we can’t stop them from coming through this area.”

Troopers stopped a total of 16 trucks during the two-day period. Of the 16, one was put out of service for a flat tire and an expired federal inspection. Another truck also had an expired federal inspection tag. Two trucks were found to be overweight. A few others were sent on their way with warnings for an underinflated tire.

Lankford admitted it’s difficult to prove a driver is purposefully avoiding a weigh station. That’s why they ask about a driver’s route and then inspect the truck for any violations that would give him or her reason to avoid a weigh station.

“The weight of the truck can cause so many problems,” Lankford said. “You have to consider the impact to the brakes. An overweight truck makes it longer for a truck to stop. This (Mount Holly) being a residential area, I can definitely understand their concerns with these big trucks coming through town.”

Channel 9 questioned the state and Mount Holly City Council to find out what can be done.

In an email, a representative with the North Carolina Department of Transportation said, “NCDOT has not found a demonstrated truck safety issue on 273.”

The representative, Jordan-Ashley Baker, added this section of NC 273 is a reasonable access route for large trucks and, by being a state primary road, it became legal for 53-foot trailer use in 2009 under Senate Bill 1695.

The town’s city manager said council has not considered implementing a weight restriction on North Main Street, nor is it in its authority to do so.

“The City of Mount Holly has undertaken a very extensive effort to address the concerns expressed by some of our citizens, part of which includes bringing the stakeholders to a public meeting with our City Council,” said Mount Holly city manager Danny Jackson, in an email.

Both departments have acknowledged the road is in dire need of repairs.

Crews are set to resurface the entire 21-mile stretch of 273, including North Main Street this summer, possibly as early as mid-June. The project will begin as soon as work is completed on the U.S. Route 74-Shelby Bypass, said Baker.

Also, to prevent continued damage to the road, NC DOT said it is now looking at a product that can be added to the resurfacing mixture. This product is meant to add some strength to the structure of the road and help with the rutting issues on 273.

The project is slated to be completed by November 2016.

It won’t keep trucks away, but it will at least make for a smoother ride.

Cox Media Group