Major intersection in Elizabeth neighborhood to close for weeks

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Area Transit System has plans to close a major intersection in the Elizabeth neighborhood Monday.

The closure will happen around 9 a.m.

CATS said 7th Street and Hawthorne Street will close. Crews will be laying down tracks as part of the Gold Line Project.

[ALSO READ: Elizabeth neighbors exhausted after latest bridge construction delay]

Julie Crosby is constantly dealing with road closures.

"It seems like they are spending a lot of our tax dollars, so hopefully it will be a worthwhile project," Crosby said. "For us, the most frustrating part is the bridge, because we like walking to restaurants and bars, and they knocked the bridge down two years and now there’s no plan. It was supposed to open April of this year, and here we are in July.”

That project was delayed after a contractor installed the wrong steel girders. CATS said the new ones won't be ready until October.

In the meantime, crews will work at Hawthorne and 7th streets. The work is supposed to wrap up at that intersection by Aug. 12.

[ALSO READ: Charlotte trolleys to shut down for 18 months]

Hawthorne's New York Pizza assistant manager, Adam Quigley, said customers will have to weave through the neighborhood to park.

He said they have signs ready to direct customers. However, Quigley also said they're getting a little creative.

"We are toying with the idea of using our staff as valet. You know, just trying to come up with something that we can do that makes people come to us,” Quigley said.

For drivers who take 7th Street inbound into uptown Charlotte, detours will reroute them around Novant Hospital. They will take North Caswell to 4th Street to Charlottetown Avenue. Police plan to increase patrols to help with traffic flow in the neighborhoods.

Cox Media Group