Crews to begin widening one of the Charlotte area’s worst congested roads, NCDOT says
Work is scheduled to begin Monday on the long-awaited widening of one of the Charlotte area’s worst congested roads, N.C. 150 near and on Lake Norman, state highway officials said Friday.
The work follows 40 years of complaints by residents stuck in congestion.
Crews with Charlotte-based contractor Blythe Development will remove trees and install erosion-control measures beginning Monday night between U.S. 21 and Morrison Parkway in Mooresville, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The $249 million, six-mile project will widen N.C. 150 from four to six lanes between Greenwood Road in Terrell, Catawba County, to U.S. 21 in Mooresville, Iredell County.
The contract allows Blythe to close lanes between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and do work without closures during the day.
Construction barrels line N.C. 150 from U.S. 21 to Talbert Road in Mooresville NC on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, for the long-awaited expansion of the highway to six lanes in Iredell and Catawba counties.
New bridges and intersections planned
The project also will include new bridges at Interstate 77 exit 36 — the congested N.C. 150 interchange in Mooresville. Traffic signals will be installed and upgraded and drainage improved in the project corridor.
The project also includes new intersections along N.C. 150 that should reduce congestion and wrecks by eliminating left turns from side roads onto the highway, NCDOT officials said. Raised medians will make left-turning drivers go right. In less than 1,000 feet, they’ll be able to get into a U-turn lane.
The notoriously backed-up intersection of N.C. 150 and Williamson/Bluefield roads in Mooresville near the lake also will be entirely redesigned.
Widening is expected to finish in spring 2030, state highway officials said.
It’s about time, state senator says of widening
Residents have grumbled for years about the increasingly worse traffic snarls along N.C. 150 in the counties.
“Our community has long awaited these enhancements, and we are committed to work with NCDOT as they oversee the construction,” state Sen. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, said in November, when the state awarded the N.C. 150 contract.
Sawyer and Mooresville town commissioner Lisa Qualls announced the awarding of the contract.
Sawyer called the widening of the two-lane former farm-to-market route critical to alleviating chronic backups and improving safety “along one of the region’s most heavily traveled corridors.”
Qualls in November thanked NCDOT “for their dedication to this project, especially considering the recent challenges posed by Hurricane Helene.” Qualls also is chairperson of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, which recommends road projects to the state.
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