Fayetteville has received nearly $1 million from the state to improve roadway access and stormwater drainage in the long‑flooded Locks Creek neighborhood—a scaled‑down but long‑awaited step for residents who have spent years stranded during storms.
The $999,135 grant, awarded through the Emergency Management Disaster Relief and Mitigation Fund, will pay for the Locks Creek Roadway and Culvert Flood Mitigation Project, city officials announced on Tuesday. The work includes replacing the existing culvert and raising low points on Locks Creek Road, one of only two ways in and out of the flood-prone neighborhood.
City officials said the project is designed to keep the road passable for residents and emergency vehicles during heavy rain. That’s a persistent problem in an area located within a few miles of the Cape Fear River and repeatedly inundated during hurricanes Matthew and Florence and even during routine storms.
“Our goal for this project is to keep the Locks Creek neighborhood safe and accessible for everyone who lives here,” Deputy Public Services Director Byron Reeves said in a statement. “Mitigating flooding at this intersection will help protect residents living near Locks Creek while also improving safety for the many commuters who travel through the area each day.”
A Years‑Long Effort, Reshaped
Locks Creek residents have spent the better part of a decade calling for relief. Floodwaters during Matthew and Florence devastated homes, washed out yards, and left families trapped. Even on ordinary rainy days, residents have told CityView that water can rise to their knees.
The new project replaces a far larger and more expensive plan unveiled to residents in early 2025—an $8.8 million stormwater infrastructure proposal for the Locks Creek and Cedar Creek areas. That earlier plan, approved by City Council in 2022, called for converting the NC‑53 culvert into a concrete box culvert and raising Locks Creek Road by up to two feet.
But as engineers moved into detailed design, the city determined that several elements of the original concept would not meaningfully reduce flooding.
“The $8.8 million figure was an early planning estimate,” city spokesperson David Scott told CityView. “As the project moved into detailed design, some elements included in the original estimate were determined to be unnecessary because they would not provide a meaningful benefit to the area. As a result, the scope and cost of the project were refined to better align with the improvements that are actually needed.”
The city paused the project last year to pursue state mitigation funding—a gamble that paid off when Fayetteville was notified in February that it was selected for the grant. Construction is expected to begin this summer and take about eight months.
The construction work is one part of the city’s strategy. Another has been pushing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to update the area’s floodplain designation, which city officials said has been inaccurate for years.
In 2020, then‑Public Services Director Sheila Thomas‑Ambat told CBS17 that FEMA should have designated the area as a flood zone during its last mapping cycle but did not. At a January 2025 community meeting, city staff said they were still working with the state to correct that and the area should be mapped as a 100‑year floodplain.
Scott said the city plans to submit a Conditional Letter of Map Revision to FEMA once construction is complete. “This process will allow FEMA to evaluate the updated hydraulic conditions and determine whether revisions to the mapped floodplain are appropriate,” he said.
Statewide Push for Mitigation
The Locks Creek grant was part of a broader announcement on March 6 from Gov. Josh Stein, who awarded more than $24 million in mitigation grants statewide, along with $16 million for volunteer organizations helping rebuild homes.
“We have learned that it will take all levels of government working alongside our private and nonprofit partners to both recover and prepare for the next natural disaster,” Stein said. “These grants will help support long‑term recovery efforts and help communities withstand future storms.”
N.C. Emergency Management Director Will Ray said the projects reflect a “whole‑of‑community effort” to reduce risk and rebuild stronger.
Government reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader can be reached at rheimann@cityviewnc.com or 910-988-8045.
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