[SeeGov Enhanced] Durham City Council Discusses Freeway Future, Crime Decrease

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The Durham Police Department reported a marked decrease in violent crime – but not in every neighborhood, and not in every demographic, as law enforcement in Q2 2025 has seen an uptick in juvenile incidents.

That, as well as the possible future of the Durham Freeway, dominated the agenda of Thursday’s City Council work session.

As Southpoint Access reported earlier this week, violent crime dropped more than 19% during the second quarter of 2025, but Police Chief Patrice Andrews acknowledged in her statements to the council that the reduction isn’t uniform across the city.

“And so we have noticed violent crime is trending downward,” she said. “Now I do want to just kind of put a little asterisk there and just say to you is what you’re seeing is not a result of necessarily a citywide trend, because we know that our violent crime is not confined to necessarily one area of the city.”

She said some Durham residents may “live in a community where you are most affected by violent crime” and not share the sense that these crimes are going down.

“It may be, but not in my area,” the chief said.

As for the Durham Freeway, although council members made no firm decisions during the work session, enthusiasm seemed to be growing for the “boulevard” approach to redesigning the area.

“That seems to me like a compelling way to think about how do we still have that as an artery, but dramatically change it and modernize it in ways that benefit the community,” said Council Member Carl Rist.

Said Council Member Nate Baker: “It’s hard to really provide clear direction to you because of all the unknowns, but I do think that, you know, setting aside all of the uncertainties, the Boulevard option is the most exciting.”

Mayor Leonardo Williams indicated that he wants to see the redesign happen sooner rather than later, aiming to restore the Hayti community that was torn apart decades ago by construction of the Durham Freeway.

“I don’t want to be waiting forever,” WIlliams said. “I don’t want to wait years to restore and repair the Hayti community.”

He also called for city leaders to “think big.”

“You know, we’re Durham and we can do nice things,” he said. “And this is an opportunity for us to prove that.”

Later, Council Member Chelsea Cook expressed interest in raising a proposal for a new housing ordinance at a future work session. This ordinance, brought forward by Riverside High School students and inspired by something similar in Charlotte, would prevent landlords from collecting rent from tenants living in properties that are in disrepair.

“It was something that I had been thinking about and I think other folks had talked about previously with tenants’ rights work that would disallow units that are in failing status on some number of specific

Thanks to SeeGov, Southpoint Access was able to capture key moments from the meeting:

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