GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Homeowners in Greensboro have been asked to leave their homes for a roadway project.
They’ve been in negotiations with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, but they still don’t know when they need to be out.
It’s an $18 million project that will put a bridge over railroad tracks on Hilltop Road.
97-year-old homeowner Joseph Hill said he’s been in limbo for years. He said a year ago at a public hearing, the residents were told they would need to leave, but he has no idea when he has to be out.
“It’s been right about five years since we had the first meeting, and we haven’t been able to find out very much ever since,” Hill said.
Hill built his home for his wife in 1957, and he hasn’t left since.
“The fact that we were able to build this place back then and give her a place that she could call her own meant a lot to me and her,” Hill said.
Hill could soon be uprooted from his home for a project through the NCDOT.
“It’s one of many projects we’re doing across the state to separate high traffic roadways from the railroad network,” Director of the Rail Division at NCDOT Jason Orthner said.
The railroad tracks intersecting Hilltop Road have been a concern for years, especially after the deadly wreck last week, killing a D.H. Griffin worker as he was driving across the railroad tracks in a forklift.
According to a survey done for the project, about 14,000 vehicles cross over the railroad daily.
“There are lots of trains … as this is one of the primary north-south routes through North Carolina for both freight and passenger traffic, so it’s definitely an important project,” Orthner said.
A bridge will be built for cars, bikes and pedestrians so they don’t have to cross paths with a train again.
“One of the important components of this project is we need to keep the roadway open even while we’re building the new bridge. Obviously, that means we have to make sure the design accommodates that,” Orthner said.
The project will expand the roadway, taking out a number of homes, including Joseph Hill’s.
“At my age, I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Hill said.
He says he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
“I haven’t decided on that yet. Maybe a nursing home,” he said.
Hill says he hasn’t heard from the NCDOT in a year over negotiations.
The project is expected to take out several homes, but the NCDOT hasn’t shared the exact number of homes involved.
The project is set to start by 2026.
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