[Letter to the Editor] South Durham Infrastructure Neglect - Paving, Safety, and Equity Concerns

On June 10, 2025, Hope Valley Farms Homeowners Association President Holly Hayes sent a letter to Ward 3 Durham City Council Member Chelsea Cook. She gave permission for Southpoint Access to share her concerns with readers.

Dear Council Member Cook,

I’m reaching out not just about Juliette Drive, but about the broader issue of long-term infrastructure neglect in this part of South Durham.

I’ve lived off Juliette Drive for 18 years and have been asking the city to repave it since 2020. As the HOA President for Hope Valley Farms, I regularly hear from neighbors who are just as frustrated by the lack of attention. It’s a heavily used road that connects Fayetteville and South Roxboro Street and sees constant traffic from school buses, GPS cut-throughs, delivery vehicles, and more than 2,000 homes. Despite that, it’s never been resurfaced.

Nearby streets like Cook Road and South Roxboro Street have been repaved multiple times in that same span. Today, I saw paving signs go up again on almost every street except Juliette.

On its own, that would be frustrating. But it’s part of a larger pattern I’ve been trying to call attention to.

Fayetteville Road is crumbling. The shoulders are narrow and brittle, and potholes are constant. Just yesterday around 5:30 pm, I sat in traffic and watched a fire truck reroute down Obie and Ebon because it couldn’t access an accident directly due to gridlock and failing road conditions.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway lighting situation is just as concerning. I first contacted the city about it in 2021 after a cyclist was hit by a car turning right on red. It was one of those early winter evenings when it gets dark around 4:30 p.m. That stretch between Hope Valley Road and NC Highway 55 has no streetlights at all for three miles. Large neighborhoods, subsidized housing, a new elementary school, heavy pedestrian traffic, bus stops, a greenway trailhead, and zero lighting.

Durham has taken steps to address street takeovers and drag racing elsewhere, but roads like MLK that are wide, fast, and completely dark are magnets for it. Law enforcement has said unlit, lightly monitored corridors make ideal targets. Lighting is a basic safety tool, and it’s missing where it’s needed most.

I’ve been told over the years this is about right-of-way or Duke Energy limitations, but I’ve spoken with Duke Energy directly. The lighting could be installed, but the city just doesn’t want to pay for it.

It’s hard not to notice that the streetlights stop right at Hope Valley Road just before you cross into neighborhoods where the average income drops sharply. On one side of that intersection, the median household income is nearly $123,500. On the other, it drops below $50,000 in many sections. That disparity seems to have shaped where infrastructure dollars go, and where they don’t.

I’m not just venting; I’m asking for your help advocating for South Durham to receive fair attention and funding. Specifically:

Add Juliette Drive to the 2025 paving schedule.
Re-evaluate the condition and safety of Fayetteville Road.
Reconsider street lighting along MLK Parkway, at least under the Brighten Our Streets program

This isn’t just about inconvenience, it’s about safety, fairness, and accountability. After nearly two decades here, I’d really like to see these gaps finally addressed.

I appreciate your time and your work representing Ward 3.

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