After years of asking and watching crash after crash, neighbors along Harris Houston Road in northeast Charlotte say they are finished waiting for City Hall. Instead, they are preparing to build their own walking path along the roadside. Longtime resident Ed Mulheren is leading the charge and says a local nonprofit, created to honor a pedestrian killed on the corridor, will pay for and construct the path without using taxpayer money. Residents point to twisted guardrails and scattered car parts as near-daily reminders that this stretch desperately needs a safer place to walk.
Mulheren told Channel 9 that he has been pushing for sidewalks on Harris Houston Road since the 1990s and that the nonprofit is ready to step in with a safe route, saying, “Now we’re willing to build our own path, so we can traverse Harris Houston Road safely,” as reported by WSOC‑TV. He also told the station that city leaders have rejected multiple requests, and a city representative told WSOC that Harris Houston Road is not a priority for sidewalks because it “isn’t a thoroughfare” and that officials prefer targeted crossings and sidewalk connections instead.
How the city decides where to build
The City of Charlotte’s sidewalk program is built around closing gaps on arterials and collectors and follows a Sidewalk Retrofit Policy that guides where projects go and how money is spent. Funding priorities, including voter‑approved bonds and the city’s broader capital planning, determine which corridors see new sidewalks in a given year, according to the City of Charlotte. That framework helps explain why some neighborhood pleas, like those on Harris Houston Road, end up lower on the list than residents think they should.
A dangerous stretch with a recent fatality
Neighbors say their frustration is rooted in tragedy. A pedestrian was struck and killed on Harris Houston Road in October 2025, and Charlotte‑Mecklenburg Police later identified the victim as 66‑year‑old Dale Lee Byrd, reporting that the crash occurred on the 2300 block of Harris Houston Road. Those details were documented in coverage of a 66‑year‑old man struck and killed. Residents say that crash, on top of other recent collisions, has left them unwilling to wait through a slow, uncertain city process.
Broader context: rising severe crashes
The neighborhood’s do‑it‑yourself push is playing out against a broader citywide debate over street safety. Charlotte’s Vision Zero materials say the city is working to eliminate traffic deaths while juggling projects across a fast‑growing road network. The Vision Zero pages and annual report spell out how targeted crossings, lower speeds and new sidewalks are prioritized, and how limited staff and budget shape which streets get upgrades first, according to the City of Charlotte. For people living along Harris Houston Road, that careful calculus has felt like years of delay.
What’s next
Mulheren says he has had “some traction” with City Council and that the nonprofit’s proposal is now waiting on a council vote. If it is approved, organizers plan to start work on a safe, off‑road path, he told WSOC‑TV. The exact route and construction schedule will depend on what council signs off on, and city officials have not pledged public funding for the project. In the meantime, neighbors are lining up volunteers and materials and say they will keep organizing until there is a safe way to walk along Harris Houston Road.
