Aug. 20. By Dave Vieser. It will be no surprise to motorists who use the Hickory Street/Main Street intersection that the NC Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT) has decided to install an additional traffic signal at the Zion Street/Hickory Street intersection, along with the previously planned signal at Main and Hickory.

Neither one is currently signalized.

Town Board meeting | Photo by Jason Benavides

Two lights will do a better job of controlling traffic, Deputy Town Manager Wayne Herron said at the Town Board’s Monday Aug. 19 meeting. The new signal requires additional right-of-way to be donated by the town at the intersection of Zion and Hickory.

The property needed by the NCDOT comprises two small parcels located just east of Zion Avenue and will be donated for $1 by unanimous approval of the town commissioners.

The new traffic signals, along with associated intersection improvements, will cost $3.74 million, with a town share of $1.5 million. Estimated completion is late 2025.

In other action, the commissioners:

—Unanimously approved local legislation in support of a countywide referendum for a 1% sales tax to
fund road and transit projects, including the Red Line. The vote could take place as soon as November 2025. Other municipalities in the region are being asked to consider the same measure during the next several weeks.

The legislation contains the following Cornelius priorities:

1. Citizens shall have the right to vote in a referendum on a sales tax that will determine their road
network and transit future

2. The potential sales tax shall provide substantive funding for Cornelius road projects

3. It must include enabling legislation and sales tax that delivers the Red Line to North Mecklenburg