Greensboro Residents Worry About Possible Eminent Domain

The city of Greensboro is moving forward with plans to widen Horse Pen Creek Road.

The project will make four travel lanes divided by a landscaped median. There will also be a bike lane and sidewalk on both sides. Transportation officials say the project will alleviate traffic and make the road safer.

But preliminary construction plans show some homes and businesses are in the projects path and will need to be removed.

“There are a lot of properties up and down that stretch of road, homes, businesses, churches and schools, so when you are widening a section that is more than three miles, you are going to have people affected,” says attorney Stan Abrams with the NC Eminent Domain Law Firm.

The NC Eminent Domain Law Firm is hosting a meeting Thursday night at the Marriott in downtown Greensboro to talk with those impacted by the project. Abrams says people need to know their rights during the process.

“The main thing that we want to tell people is don’t feel like you have no options and don’t feel like there is nothing you can do. Although you may have some difficulty in stopping the city or state in the taking of your property for the project, you still certainly have an opportunity to get more than what is being offered for your property,” says Abrams.

City officials say construction on Horse Pen Creek Road is set to begin in spring 2015 and should be complete in summer 2017.

Meanwhile, officials with the city of Greensboro are also holding a citizen’s informational workshop for the Horse Pen Creek Road Widening Project. That meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 13 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and from 4 a.m. until 7 p.m. at St. Paul Apostle Catholic Church in Greensboro.