CHARLOTTE — Plans for additional Interstate 77 toll lanes in Charlotte remain unclear, but residents in the historic Wilmore neighborhood say they’re already worried about losing their homes.
Wilmore is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Charlotte.
Resident Corey Wilmore grew up on Spruce Street but now wonders if his family will have to move.
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“If you are going to push us out, why don’t you compensate?” he said. “Compensate the people if you are going to inconvenience them.”
A few dozen feet from Spruce Street is I-77. Every hour of every day and night, you can hear the traffic. The sound of construction may also fill the air as the I-77 toll lanes are being built.
“It’s ground zero for this. Some people are going to lose their homes,” said Robert Dawkins with Action NC, which will be in Wilmore to educate residents about what may be coming their way.
“What we want people to do is to come out and ask their questions,” Dawkins said.
Resident Chandler Wrenn loves living in Wilmore.
“I’ve been in my house for 12 years now,” he said. “(I) wasn’t really planning on moving.”
If the state decides to take Wrenn’s property, he’s not certain what he can do.
But he intends to fight.
“For us, we are raising our children in the neighborhood,” he said. “I have businesses that are close by the neighborhood. We always wanted to live next to the city. We want to fight as much as we can.”
“We have to do footwork,” said Wilmore. “We have to participate, whatever it is, a petition that they might have. We’ve got to push something as far as we can go.”
The Barringer Drive Initiative will be holding a community meeting about I-77 at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Revolution Sports Complex.
VIDEO: New NCDOT center aims to ease concerns over I-77 toll lanes project
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