Windshire Ridge homeowners oppose proposed widening, urge council to seek redesign

Frances White, speaking for Windshire Ridge homeowners, told the Hickory City Council on March 18 that residents oppose a project the state Department of Transportation describes as a “super street.” White said the work would widen three streets in the Springs Road area and urged council action.

White said he was speaking “on behalf of the 111 homeowners who own properties at Windshire Ridge” and said the project would turn “a peaceful residential, mostly residential neighborhood … into a property that’s dissected by a super highway. Now, the state DOT calls it a super street, but it’s really a super highway.”

White said he and other neighbors had submitted questions to NCDOT and to city staff and had received no responses. He told the council he had filed “23 questions to the DOT” on the project and asked the council to pass a resolution asking that the design be changed to “be more friendly to the people.”

The remarks came during the meeting’s public-comment period; council members did not take formal action on the item during the meeting. Mayor Ghescomb interrupted White when his allotted three minutes had elapsed but allowed him a brief conclusion; White closed by asking the council to “pass a resolution” and to redesign the project.

No other members of the public spoke on the road widening at the hearing. City staff did not present a DOT plan or a staff recommendation during public comment, and no council motion or vote on the project was recorded in the meeting minutes.

The comment provides a record of neighborhood opposition and of unanswered questions to the DOT that could be incorporated into future staff briefings or formal requests to NCDOT. The council did not indicate a timeline for staff follow-up during the meeting.