Fleming Drive construction enters final stretch
Project runs ahead of schedule, but laundromat owner says business suffered
The rainy weather meant construction didn’t progress much the week of Sept. 21, but an NCDOT official says the Fleming Bridge project should wrap up by the end of the year.
The nearly $23 million Fleming Drive bridge project in front of the Morganton Heights Shopping Center is expected to be finished by the end of December, more than a year before its original final completion deadline.
The accelerated finish offers little comfort to Hannah Ferree, owner of The Wash House. She said construction crews have repeatedly blocked access to her laundromat and contributed to business losses.
“It’s been nothing short of a nightmare,” Ferree said.
Ferree, who took over The Wash House shortly before construction began, said she signed an agreement with the state to let crews use a portion of her parking lot and manipulate the entrance in exchange for compensation.
The agreement, she said, stipulated that crews would not block the entrance without notice. However, she said the payment has failed to cover her losses, and crews have repeatedly blocked the entrance without notice.
According to Ferree, one day, workers laid down a crane blocking her entrance while multiple customers were there. Only after her lawyer called the North Carolina Department of Transportation did the workers move the crane.
“They would just completely ignore me,” she said. “It’s not been a matter of ‘Hey, guys, can you move your trucks?’ I have to call my lawyer, and they have to call this person and that person before the trucks are moved.”
NCDOT’s most recent traffic count shows an average of 19,500 vehicles a day, making the route one of the busiest in town. Construction has affected the entire frontage of the Morganton Heights Shopping Center, which includes Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Staples, and many other businesses.
Around noon Thursday, the laundromat was nearly empty.
Customer Dee Snider told The Paper she avoids the area as much as she can because turning in and out of the laundromat parking lot can be stressful due to low visibility and heavy traffic.
“It’s dangerous, and there’s no parking,” she said, adding that the construction has taken longer than she would like.
She and another customer agreed the laundromat is cleaner than others they have used, but Snider said she only comes if she has to.
A follow-up call and text to NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama regarding Ferree’s complaints were not immediately returned.
The contractor, Mountain Creek Contractors Inc. of Mount Pleasant, S.C., did not respond to a request for comment.
Uchiyama previously said NCDOT has taken measures to reduce the impact of construction on businesses in the area, including keeping entrances clear and using signage to direct drivers to their destinations.
On the other hand, Mavis Tires & Brakes, which opened shortly before construction began and is near a closed entrance to the shopping center, has reported little effect.
Despite being in a less accessible part of the area, the shop has remained busy throughout the project, said acting store manager Nate Jefferson.
“Other than it being an eyesore, I don’t think it’s affected us,” he said, adding that customers coming for oil changes or tire repair are unlikely to avoid the shop just because it’s out of the way.
“They’ll figure it out,” he said.
The new bridge opened to traffic, and the temporary bridge was closed at the end of 2025, marking a major step forward in one of the city’s largest road projects in recent years.
Uchiyama said planners revised their traffic management plans earlier in the project, routing traffic around the construction area on a temporary bridge, which “cut down construction time by almost a year.”
Uchiyama said he was not familiar with the initial traffic management plan.
Uchiyama said the remaining work includes a new traffic signal near Mavis Tires & Brakes and Panera Bread, a retaining wall on the west side of the project, a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side, and a 10-foot multiuse path on the south side.
“Construction should be complete by the end of the year,” he said.
